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December 2, 2024More than 800,000 could flee Sudan fighting, UN refugees agency warns
More than 800,000 could flee Sudan fighting, UN refugees agency warns
The United Agency (UN) for Refugees has warned that more than 800,000 Sudanese May flee the country due to the violent confrontations between the Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said with governments and partners, it has been preparing for the possibility that over 800,000 people may flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries such as Chad and Egypt.
Others have gone to South Sudan, Ethiopia, or sailed across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia on evacuation boats.
“In consultation with all concerned governments and partners, we’ve arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into the seven neighbouring countries,” Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for refugees, told a member-state briefing in Geneva, Switzerland.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi also noted that more people may be displaced if the fighting is not resolved as soon as possible.
He tweeted: “We hope it doesn’t come to that, but if violence doesn’t stop we will see more people forced to flee Sudan seeking safety.”.
The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Abdou Dieng, in his part, raised concerns that the conflict was turning into a full blown catastrophe as more people ran for their lives in the embattled northeast African country.
The UN and other aid organizations have reduced services, though the World Food Programme announced on Monday that it would resume operations in more secure areas after some of its staff were killed early in the war.
Despite promises of a ceasefire, fighting has continued in Khartoum.
The intense fighting, which began more than two weeks ago, prompted tens of thousands of Sudanese to flee to neighboring countries.
Many countries, including Nigeria, have evacuated their diplomats, staff and citizens from Sudan .
At least 528 people have been killed and more than 4,500 injured in fighting between the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary forces since April 15, according to Sudan’s Health Ministry.