A joint statement by four UN agencies has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan, warning that 30 million people across the country now require urgent humanitarian assistance.
The statement added that at least 130,000 children have been trapped in the city of El Fasher for the past 16 months, stressing that the situation in the Kordofan and Darfur regions is extremely concerning.
This came after the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing the International Organization for Migration (IOM), reported that more than 3,000 people in North Darfur State and around 1,200 in West and South Kordofan States have been displaced from their homes over the past week due to ongoing fighting.
The UN Office confirmed last Tuesday that “violence is driving new waves of displacement across various parts of Sudan,” noting that more than 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes in North Darfur during the past week, including 1,500 from the besieged state capital, El Fasher, and another 1,500 from the village of Abu Gamra.
The office emphasized that “civilians in Sudan continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing violence,” calling for “an immediate halt to the fighting and the protection of civilians,” as well as unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need.
For its part, the International Organization for Migration stated that the latest wave of displacement occurred between October 15 and 19, due to the deteriorating security situation and continued clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in and around the city.
It added that the displaced people have spread across multiple locations in the El Fasher and Tawila areas of North Darfur, warning that “the situation remains tense and volatile, raising fears of a worsening humanitarian crisis.”
Meanwhile, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur (a local body) said on Sunday that hundreds of families fleeing El Fasher have arrived in the Tawila area of North Darfur under dire humanitarian conditions.
The coordination body appealed to international humanitarian organizations to “act urgently to provide support and assistance to the displaced, who lack even the most basic means of survival.”
Conditions in Sudan have deteriorated since April 2023, following escalating political tensions between Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”). The clashes that began in Khartoum soon spread to other parts of the country.
As a result of the conflict, experts estimate that at least 40,000 people have been killed, while nearly 12 million Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes, amid severe shortages of food and other essential resources.
