The UN migration agency issued a dire warning on Monday, stating that Sudan is at a disastrous “breaking point” where tens of thousands of avoidable deaths are expected as a result of numerous crises.
According to the International Organization for Migration, millions of people in the war-torn nation are now dealing with hunger and flooding on top of the worst displacement catastrophe in history.
“Make no mistake: these conditions will persist and worsen if the conflict and restrictions on humanitarian access continue,” Othman Belbeisi, IOM Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
“Without an immediate, massive, and coordinated global response, we risk witnessing tens of thousands of preventable deaths in the coming months.
We are at breaking point — a catastrophic, cataclysmic breaking point.”War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the fighting, the UN reports.According to the IOM, updated statistics indicate that over 10.7 million people in Sudan are internally displaced, with many having been moved multiple times.
In the meantime, 2.3 million people have migrated into neighboring nations over national borders.Since June, flooding has forced more than 20,000 people to flee 11 of Sudan’s 18 states, according to the IOM. It also added that damaged infrastructure has prevented essential supplies from reaching affected areas.
Over the past two weeks, over 45,000 people have been displaced overall, with over 38,000 of them escaping across borders.
The conflict has pushed the Zamzam camp near the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher into famine, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review.
The IOM said humanitarian and protection conditions in Sudan were “among the worst in the world”.
“Restrictions on humanitarian access, including impediments imposed by parties to the conflict, have severely curtailed the ability of aid organisations to scale up and save lives, especially during the current rainy season,” the Geneva-based agency said.“Urgent funding” is required for “those still in desperate need of food, shelter, water, health services, and specialised protection.”
