The United Nations is deeply worried about the impact of the fighting on the humanitarian situation in Sudan. After ten days of clashes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says there are acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel, and limited access to communications and electricity while the prices of essential items are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, thousands of Sudanese are fleeing the violence to South Sudan, Chad and Egypt as foreigners are evacuated to their home countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 459 people have been killed and 4,072 injured in the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The WHO warns that the actual figures are expected to be much higher. The UN agency has confirmed 14 attacks on healthcare facilities so far. The Sudan Medical Association has announced the death of 11 health care workers, as a result of the conflict.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that, following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the SAF and the RSF had agreed to implement a nationwide cease-fire starting at midnight Monday (22:00 GMT), to last for 72 hours. The development came as foreign nationals and Sudanese civilians continue to leave the country.
Countries are rushing to evacuate their diplomats and citizens from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, as the truce is not fully implemented and clashes between the two rival factions in the Northeastern African country continues.
Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United States are among the nations using aircraft and convoys to bring foreign nationals out of Sudan. Hundreds of diplomats and foreigners living in Sudan have already been evacuated.
The relocation of hundreds of UN staff members, families and associated personnel from Khartoum and other locations in Sudan is also ongoing. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday the UN is not leaving Sudan but has temporarily relocated hundreds of staff members inside and outside the country.
“Working with humanitarian organizations on the ground, we are reconfiguring our presence in Sudan to enable us to continue supporting the Sudanese people,” Guterres said at a Security Council meeting.
“Let me be clear: The United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time.”
The UN had about 800 international staff in the country, and many of them had their families living with them in Khartoum. There are also some 3,200 Sudanese nationals working for the international organization.
Some internationally recruited personnel, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Volker Perthes, will remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis and returning to the UN mandated tasks. The UN is establishing a hub in Port Sudan, where a core team of UN staff will lead humanitarian operations in the country.
In the meantime, Sudanese nationals are fending for themselves amid shortages of essential items, skyrocketing prices, power blackouts and loss of internet service. Some Sudanese have made the decision to escape in cars and buses on dangerous roads.
The fighting has already displaced tens of thousands, and civilians continue to be displaced in several states. People are also crossing borders to surrounding countries.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday that the most significant cross-border movements in the region have been Sudanese fleeing to Chad, and South Sudanese refugees returning to South Sudan. Over 800,000 South Sudanese refugees live in Sudan, a quarter of whom were in Khartoum and directly affected by the fighting.
UNHCR has also received reports of people starting to arrive in Egypt, but exact numbers are currently not available. At least 20,000 refugees had fled across the border into Chad since the beginning of the fighting.
Clashes between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted on April 15 after months of rising tensions over the country's political future and the RSF's planned integration into the national army.
Humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before the fighting erupted – with some 15.8 million people – about a third of the population – requiring humanitarian assistance. A quarter of Sudan's population - 11.7 million people - were severely food insecure. Over 3 million children under 5 currently suffered from acute malnutrition in the country, with an estimated 650,000 children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
According to UNHCR, Sudan hosts about 1.2 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. Before the fighting started, some 3.7 million Sudanese were internally displaced, mostly in the Darfur region that has experienced a volatile security situation since 2003. More than 800,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries.