The ongoing conflict in Sudan has driven more than 3.1 million people from their homes, including over 700,000 who fled to neighbouring countries, the United Nations said Wednesday.
There are growing concerns that the country is sliding into a “full-scale civil war”. Fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country’s fragile transition to democracy, which had begun after a popular uprising resulted in the military’s removal of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
Over 238,000 refugees have fled to Chad since the conflict began in April, with a massive influx seen in the past few weeks as fighting in Darfur has intensified.
Twenty-thousand people have arrived in Adré, a small Chadian town near the border, in the last week alone, according to the World Food Programme.
These areas are at risk of being cut off as the rainy season begins, making roads impassable. A race is on to get food and other aid in before, but humanitarians are concerned there is not enough funding to meet the refugees’ needs, nor time now to procure and deliver it.
