UN: More Than a Million People have Fled Sudan’s Spiraling Conflict

By Staff, Agencies

The United Nations warned that more than 1 million people have fled Sudan to neighboring states, as people inside the country are running out of food and dying due to a lack of healthcare after four months of war.

Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF] has devastated the capital Khartoum and sparked ethnically driven attacks in Darfur, threatening to plunge Sudan into a protracted civil war and destabilize the region.

“Time is running out for farmers to plant the crops that will feed them and their neighbors. Medical supplies are scarce. The situation is spiraling out of control,” UN agencies said in a joint statement.

The war has caused 1,017,449 people to cross from Sudan into neighboring countries, many already struggling with the impact of conflicts or economic crises, while those displaced within Sudan are estimated to number 3,433,025, according to the latest weekly figures published by the UN’s International Organization for Migration [IOM].

Fighting in Sudan erupted in April over tensions linked to a planned transition to civilian rule, exposing civilians in the capital and beyond to daily battles and attacks.

The millions who remain in Khartoum and cities in the Darfur and Kordofan regions have faced rampant looting and long power, communications and water cuts.

“The remains of many of those killed have not been collected, identified or buried,” but the UN estimates that more than 4,000 have been killed, Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a briefing in Geneva.

Reports of sexual assaults have increased by 50%, said UN population fund official Laila Baker.