To provide life-saving assistance to those forced to leave Sudan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UN refugee agency) increased the original amount from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion.
Ewan Watson, head of Global Communications at the UN agency, said the funding will help and protect 3.3 million people forced to flee violence and “near-famine conditions” over the next six months.
“As horrible as it is, it is not just about famine, but also about brutal human rights violations.“These are floods that are expected to be the worst in years this year, and that is not only hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid, but it also means that people are trapped where they are, with little help and unable to flee.”
© UNHCR/Levon Sevunts
A woman and her daughter are among about 180,000 Sudanese refugees waiting to be relocated from the border area in eastern Chad.
Fleeing a brutal war
The war in Sudan began 14 months ago when rival forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), clashed. Tensions had risen due to the transition to civilian rule.
According to the UNHCR, thousands of people are leaving Sudan “every day, fleeing brutal violence and abuse, death, disrupted services, limited access to humanitarian aid” and the threat of famine.
Plunder and lawlessness
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent days by fighting between the SAF and RSF in Sinja, in the southeastern state of Sennar.
“There are reports that armed men have looted and plundered homes and shops and occupied government buildings.“, said spokeswoman Vanessa Hugenin.
She highlighted the additional insecurity in Abu Hujar and nearby Ad Dali, noting that the vast majority of people displaced by the violence moved east to neighbouring Gedaref state.
“We and our humanitarian partners in Gedaref are preparing for the arrival of people displaced by the fighting in Sinja, with enough food and nutritional supplies to meet the needs of tens of thousands of people,” she said.
© WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei
Many families have fled to the relative safety of Port Sudan.
Forced to cut rations
With additional funding, UNHCR aims to scale up assistance to refugees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.
So far, only 19 percent of the funds needed for UNHCR refugee assistance have been received, meaning that food rations had to be “drastically reduced”, said Mr. Watson.
In the Central African Republic, for example, 24,000 refugees are “without any form of humanitarian assistance”, while 180,000 new arrivals in Chad are still waiting to be relocated away from border areas, he noted.
In Egypt, nearly 75,000 refugee children are out of school, while in South Sudan refugee camps and settlements are severely overcrowded.
“Neighbouring countries have shown great solidarity by hosting those fleeing the war, but Services in host communities remain overstretched, making it extremely difficult for refugees “To settle down, build a life and rebuild their lives,” Mr Watson said.
Since the conflict began, 10 million people have fled their homes in Sudan, many of whom have been displaced multiple times in search of safety. Of these, nearly two million have arrived in neighbouring countries, with 7.7 million newly displaced and 220,000 refugees who have moved within the country.
