Data Lab | UN warns of further 'displacement' from Sudan despite ceasefire

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeesissued a warning about "further displacement" of people from Sudan, following athousands-strong migration into South Sudan and neighbouring Chad despite an uncertain cease-fire between the two rival Sudanese generals fighting for control of the nation.The conflict has thrown Sudan into instability, putting the already highly dependent on aid African country on the verge of collapsing.

At least 20,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad since violence broke out on April 15 and some 4,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been living in Sudan have returned home, according to Olga Sarrado, a spokespersonfor the The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reported the Associated Press.

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She warned that the numbers might increase. Sarrado lacked data for the five nations bordering Sudan, although UNHCR has reported that an unspecified number of people departing Sudan and arriving in Egypt.

“The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country,” she said, speaking at a UN briefing in Geneva.

She stated that the UNHCR was expanding its operations despite the haste by foreign countries to evacuate their embassy personnel and residents from Sudan. Many Sudanese have frantically looked for ways to flee the chaos because of concern that after the evacuations are finished, they might get involved in an all-out power struggle.

Over 800,000 South Sudanese refugees reside in Sudan, with 25 per centof them in Khartoum, the country's capital, where the violence has a direct impact on them.

Marie-Helene Verney, the UNHCR's chief in South Sudan, said from its capital of Juba that “the planning figure that we have for the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan, and 45,000 refugees,” Sudanese fleeing the fighting.

Healthcare system pushed to the brink

Tens of thousands of pregnant women, including 24,000 women due to give birth in the next few weeks, are at risk due to the violence, according to the UN Population Fund. According to the agency, it is too risky for 219,000 pregnant women nationwide to leave their homes in the midst of hostilities to seek emergency care in hospitals and clinics.

The UN's health office warned on Tuesday that as conflict continues, medical supplies and workers in Sudan are running low, and the country's healthcare system is in danger of collapsing.

"I want to be very clear: All parties must ensure unrestricted and safe access to health facilities for those injured and everyone in need of medical care," World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing, as reported by Reuters.

(With inputs from agencies)

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