GENEVA: According to a UN official, more than 800,000 people may evacuate Sudan as a result of violence between military factions, including many who had previously arrived as refugees.
“Without a quick resolution to this crisis, we will continue to see more people forced to flee in search of safety and basic assistance,” Raouf Mazou said during a member-state briefing in Geneva.
“We’ve arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people who may flee into the seven neighboring countries after consulting with all concerned governments and partners.”
According to him, the number comprises approximately 580,000 Sudanese, with the remainder being current refugees from South Sudan and elsewhere.
So far, 73,000 people have fled to Sudan’s seven neighbors: South Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, and Libya, according to him.
At the same briefing, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan warned that the humanitarian crisis was becoming a “full-fledged catastrophe,” with the risk of spillover into neighboring countries becoming a concern.
“It has been more than two weeks of devastating fighting in Sudan, a conflict that is turning the Sudan humanitarian crisis into a full-blown catastrophe,” said Abdou Dieng, a resident and humanitarian coordinator in the nation, via video link.
