UNHCR: Displaced civilians fleeing Sudan’s Darfur, Kordofan regions navigate serious violations, deadly routes

GENEVA - A protection catastrophe in Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions is intensifying at an alarming pace as escalating violence drives thousands of families from their homes, many for the second or third time, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warns.

Families arriving in Tawila, about 50 km from El Fasher, and surrounding areas recount unimaginable horrors prior to and during their escape. Women and girls report rape and sexual violence while fleeing El Fasher. Parents are searching for missing children, many traumatized due to conflict and the dangerous journey to reach safety. Unable to pay ransoms, families have lost young male relatives to arrests or forced recruitment into armed groups.

Journeys to safety are becoming longer and more perilous as the displaced try to avoid armed checkpoints along shorter routes. Since the takeover of El Fasher, 2,000 people fleeing Darfur and Kordofan have arrived in Ad Dabbah in Northern State, some covering more than 1,000 kilometres, sometimes travelling for up to 15 days. They join some 35,000 who managed to reach Ad Dabbah during the long siege, and thousands more are thought to be on their way. Those arriving report looting of their personal belongings, including phones, jewellery, clothing and cash. Transport providers are also reportedly demanding exorbitant fees, turning the desperate flight to safety into another ordeal of abuse and exploitation. Especially worrying are recent reports of people who have fled being forcibly returned to El Fasher by armed groups along displacement routes.

At the same time, conditions back in El Fasher are fast reaching breaking point. Community networks and local sources have told UNHCR teams that thousands of people, particularly the elderly, those with disabilities and the wounded, remain trapped, either prevented from leaving the city or lacking the means or strength to flee.

Nearly 100,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher and surrounding villages in the last two weeks, seeking safety in other parts of North Darfur and neighbouring states. Three-quarters of the newly displaced had already been forced from their homes before, primarily from Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps and unsafe neighbourhoods in El Fasher. The conflict has also reached other parts of western Sudan, including North Kordofan, where conflict has uprooted almost 50,000 people in recent weeks, many of whom had already fled previous waves of fighting.

The conditions in areas of arrival, including Ad Dabbah and Tawila, remain dire. People are sleeping in the open, under trees or in makeshift shelters. Clean water, food, and medicine are almost non-existent. Many families have gone days without eating. Health workers warn of rising malnutrition, particularly among children and pregnant women. New arrivals are visibly traumatized after months of siege and repeated displacement.

UNHCR and partners are rapidly scaling up their response to reach those in greatest need across Darfur, Kordofan, and Northern State. In Tawila, protection desks have been established to provide specialized support, including counselling, family tracing and other assistance for the most vulnerable arrivals. Unaccompanied and separated children are also being recorded and referred for further assistance to specialized service providers. Considering the protection violations, UNHCR has provided PEP kits to health authorities for the necessary treatment of rape survivors. We are also dispatching household items, shelter material and other relief items from Port Sudan to locations where we have access. A UNHCR team has arrived in Ad Dabbah to respond to the crisis.

UNHCR adds its voice to widespread calls for an immediate cessation of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and to guarantee safe and unhindered passage for those desperately fleeing for their lives. Continued impediments to humanitarian access puts lives at risk. UNHCR urges all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and to grant full, unconditional, and sustained access for humanitarian workers to deliver life-saving assistance to those most in need. UNHCR also calls for the protection of frontline responders – too many have lost their lives or are reported missing.

At the same time, UNHCR calls on the international community to step up its support with urgently needed funding, but also stronger and sustained pressure to protect civilians and allow aid delivery to address the overwhelming needs. So far, UNHCR has only received 35% of the resources required this year to respond to the crisis inside Sudan and countries of asylum and is urgently seeking $84.2 million to sustain life-saving response into next year.

Sudan continues to face the world’s largest displacement crisis, with nearly 12 million people forced from their homes within the country and across borders. Without swift and decisive action, millions of Sudanese civilians, many already displaced multiple times, face the prospect of even greater suffering and loss.

For more information, please contact:

• In Sudan, Assadullah Nasrullah, [email protected], +249 912 178 991

• In Nairobi (regional), Faith Kasina, [email protected], +254 113 427 094

• In Geneva, Eujin Byun, [email protected], +41 79 747 8719