Geneva, May 2, (dpa/GNA) – At least 334,000 people have become internally displaced in Sudan since fighting broke out for control of the country in mid-April, according to the UN.
A spokesman for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva said on Tuesday that the majority of them, around 240,000 people, are displaced in the areas of South and West Darfur, in the west of the country.
Even before the recent clashes begun, there were 3.7 million people displaced in Sudan due to previous conflicts.
Meanwhile, the number of people from Sudan seeking refuge in neighbouring countries has exceeded 100,000, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Many have arrived in Chad, South Sudan and Egypt. Among them are Sudanese, but also refugees from other countries who had found shelter in Sudan.
“UNHCR, with governments and partners, is preparing for the possibility that over 800,000 people may flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi tweeted on Monday.
“We hope it doesn’t come to that,” he added.
Sudan’s de facto president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been fighting his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo with the help of the military since April 15. Daglo is the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The two generals took over the leadership of the country of about 46 million through two military coups in 2019 and 2021.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the fighting began.
Governments from across the world have launched evacuation missions to airlift their citizens to safety.
The United States has evacuated more than 700 people from Sudan over the past three days, the US State Department said on Monday.
Three US convoys had arrived in Port Sudan on the Red Sea since Saturday, taking more than 700 US citizens, their families and nationals from allied and partner countries to safety, a department spokesman told a media briefing.
“This successful operation would not have been possible without the dedication and bravery of our locally employed staff who facilitated the movements from Khartoum during an arduous overland journey to Port Sudan,” he said.
Since the beginning of the fighting in mid-April, the US had taken more than 1,000 US citizens out of Sudan to safety, the spokesman said. Embassy staff and their families were evacuated directly from Khartoum by the US military.
“We are working tirelessly and around the clock to ensure those who have sought our assistance in Sudan that they are aware of all options for evacuation.”
GNA