More than six million people, about 13% of the population, in the war-ravaged Sudan are now one step away from famine.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, warns that hunger and displacement due to the war are "spiraling out of control" amid ongoing fighting.
Across the country, more than 20 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity as a result of conflict, economic decline and mass displacement.
Displacements
Latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates the ongoing conflict has forced nearly four million people to flee their homes in a little over 100 days.
More than 926,000 have sought refuge abroad and a total of 3.02 million are internally displaced, the UN’s migration office, says.
According to IOM’s latest humanitarian situation update, people have been forced to leave all of Sudan’s 18 states.
Those with the highest proportions of displaced people are River Nile (15 %), North (11%), North Darfur (9%) and White Nile (9 per cent).
IOM field teams report that more than two thirds of the internally displaced people originate from Khartoum State.
The UN organisation notes that access to many areas remains impossible because of the fighting. The current assessments are therefore based on preliminary reports or estimates.
Crossing borders
A total of 926,841 people have now sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Ethiopia according to the IOM data.
Sudanese nationals account for more than two-thirds of these arrivals, while foreign nationals and returnees made up the remaining third, IOM reports.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi pleaded that it was “time for all parties to this conflict to immediately end this tragic war.”
According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, conditions have been “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded, and the looming rainy season has complicated relocation and aid delivery efforts.
There is a significant risk of flooding which could exacerbate the already fragile conditions.
