Geneva (EFE) 100,000 refugees to flee for their lives.
The spokeswoman for the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), Olga Sarrado, said that her organization is using the projection of 800,000 potential refugees for its financial and operational planning.
The UN also revealed that its humanitarian operation in Sudan, which it carries out through its agencies and a network of NGOs, is severely underfunded, having received only 14% of the $1.75 billion it had requested for operate in the country in 2023.
UNHCR fears conflict in Sudan will cause at least 145,000 refugees
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) anticipated today that the current internal conflict in Sudan, which according to the latest UN figures has caused 459 deaths and 4,079 injuries, could cause at least 145,000 refugees in neighboring countries of Chad and South Sudan.
At a press conference with various humanitarian agencies coordinated from Geneva, the UNHCR representative in Chad, Lorena lo Castro, indicated that the agency is preparing to receive up to 100,000 refugees in that country (some 20,000 have been counted so far).
His colleague in South Sudan, Marie-Hélène Verney, indicated that 45,000 refugees from Sudan are expected in that territory.
To these figures should be added the Sudanese who have fled to neighboring Egypt, although the UNHCR spokeswoman in Geneva, Olga Sarrado, pointed out that there are still no exact figures on the number of refugees who have already arrived in that country.
Added to this exodus is that of South Sudanese who were refugees in Sudan and return to their country due to the escalation of hostilities that began on April 15: according to the UNHCR representative in the country, some 4,000 of these returnees have already arrived in Sudan.
“The situation is very difficult because of the remoteness of the border point where they arrive, where there is a shortage of water, food and medicine and some arrive there after long days of travel from Khartoum,” Verney said by videoconference from Juba, the South Sudanese capital.
Sudan was hosting one million refugees (including 800,000 from neighboring South Sudan) and 1.8 million internally displaced persons before hostilities began between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitaries.
In turn, Chad already hosted 400,000 Sudanese refugees in 13 camps in the east of the country, many of them from the neighboring region of Darfur.
The figure of 459 deaths and more than 4,000 wounded was once again provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) citing data from the Sudanese Ministry of Health, and clarifying that the real figures of the conflict between the army and paramilitaries could be much higher.
The ICRC official welcomed the 72-hour truce announced Monday by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and called for its prompt implementation.
“This is good news for families in Khartoum who have spent up to eight days without being able to leave their homes,” said Yussef, who reiterated the need for both sides to respect the lives of civilians in their clashes.
According to the Red Cross, all airports are impassable for civilians except Port Sudan, the country’s main seaport and from which humanitarian aid is being able to arrive.