Geneva – The two-year war in Sudan has created the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crisis today, and has been intensified by extreme cuts in international aid, said UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi.
“Two years from now, Sudan is a catastrophe the world cannot afford to ignore,” Grandi said in a statement read at a UN press conference.
Amy Pope, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said today that more than a third of Sudan’s population is urgently in need of humanitarian assistance, including 16 million children.
“The war has pushed Sudan to the brink of fire. Thousands of lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, and hopes and aspirations of millions have been shattered in the face of starvation, illness and a complete economic collapse,” the Pope said.
The United Nations says more than 12 million people are being forced from their homes, making it the world’s largest evacuation crisis.
Grandi has described the past few days as brutal attacks on vulnerable people in North Darfur, a “significant violation of humanitarian law” among those killed among the aid workers.
He said Sudanese are surrounded by all sides – war, widespread abuse, insults, hunger, and other difficulties.
“And they have faced with indifference from the outside world and have shown for the past two years that they have little interest in bringing peace to Sudan or bailing out their neighbors.”
Grandi said he has just returned from Chad, a haven for nearly a million Sudanese refugees fleeing the massacre, but that severe funding lack means the UN will struggle to alleviate the suffering.
“It’s not just Sudanese who’s become unseen. The world has largely turned its back on countries and communities that have welcomed so many refugees.
A 288% increase in demand for life-saving support after rape and sexual violence
He said Chad has scarce resources but allows refugees to seek security on their territory.
“A huge number of -1.5 million – fled to Egypt. Hundreds of thousands of former refugees have returned to escape violence in Sudan.
Chad and Egypt currently host a total of 1 million Sudanese refugees.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that this massive displacement is straining local resources and social services, while the cross-border movement of armed groups is increasing regional instability.
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In the same briefing, Anna Mutabati, the UN Women’s Regional Director in East and South Africa, spoke from Port Sudan, condemned the attack four days ago in Darfur, where 400 civilians lost their lives.
“The sacrifices of war are devastating. The demand for life-saving support has increased by 288% following rape and sexual violence,” Mutavati said.
“Women’s bodies have become the battlefield in this conflict, and sexual violence and rape are systematically used as weapons of war.”
She lamented that the numbers didn’t capture the pain and fear they heard in stories of women they met at evacuation camps and shelter centres in Port Sudan.
“All women escaped violence and personal tragedy and escaped their homes without any escape. I have heard that they need to safely do the horrors they suffered, the sexual abuse they suffered, and the constant need to move from one place to another,” Mutavati said.
