The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Sudan: One of largest protection crises, says UN refugee agency
The displacement crisis prompted by ongoing conflict in Sudan continues unabated with nearly six million people forced out of their homes and women and children making up nearly nine in 10 of those uprooted, the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
“This is one of the largest protection crises that we are faced with today,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes. “Inside Sudan itself there are a lot of people in urban settings that are affected equally and who do not have the resources to leave.”
In a related development, the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday voted to set up a high-level probe “to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations” in Sudan.
In accordance with the resolution, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan is mandated to investigate violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes caused by the ongoing conflict.
In an appeal for a cessation of hostilities, the UNHCR official urged Sudan’s opposing militaries “to have a peace process that will help our brothers and sisters who have been obliged to flee their countries to go back to their countries”.
As a result of the conflict that erupted in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other armed groups in mid-April, the UN agency described how families had faced harrowing journeys and become separated while on the move, amid increasing reports of gender-based violence. Malnourishment among children is now described as a major crisis, along with disease outbreaks.
“I have seen and I have witnessed the level of human rights violations that have happened within Sudan so that what we hear from people who have crossed the borders is really heartbreaking and that’s the protection crisis that we are faced with and it has been ongoing for the past six months,” said UNHCR’s Mr. Balde.
The regional ramifications of the Sudanese emergency are deep, particularly in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). Both nations are grappling with the influx of refugees fleeing the devastating conflict in Sudan, bringing with them stories of despair, loss, and continued vulnerability.
“In my long career as a humanitarian worker what I have seen in Chad with this new emergency with such a rapid and vast displacement of people is the first time,” said Abdouraouf Gnon Konde, UNHCR’s Regional Bureau Director for West and Central Africa.
According to Mr. Konde, there are over 420,000 new refugees in Chad and near 19,000 in CAR. To put this in perspective, “Chad has hosted more refugees in these mere five months than it has in the past 20 years becoming now undeniably the epicentre of this crisis”.
“In Chad we estimate probably that by the end of the year we will reach unfortunately the number of 600,000 Sudanese refugees who will have just arrived following what’s happening in Sudan,” added Mr. Konde.
The UNHCR official described a recent visit to Chad where testimonies from refugee victims of gender-based violence had been “particularly chilling”, involving sexual assault, rape and forced prostitution.
In response to the emergency in Chad, UNHCR has relocated 42 per cent of refugees away from high-risk border areas, with a focus on protecting the high percentage of vulnerable women and children.
Egypt continues to be the primary host country of Sudanese refugees, with hundreds arriving daily, said Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “We have received over 300,000 Sudanese since the crisis erupted,” he said. “For those who don’t know: in Egypt already pre-crisis there are six million Sudanese. Egypt has been really the safety zone throughout the decades of Sudan turbulent years. A place of safety, for some people almost home.”
-ends-
STORY: Sudan: Displacement update - UNHCR
TRT: 2 min 45s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 11 October 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley, UN Geneva
- Wide shot: speakers at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “This is one of the largest protection crises that we are faced with today. Nearly six month and nearly 6 million people are affected who are leaving. And I would say inside Sudan itself there are a lot of people in urban settings that are affected equally and who do not have the resources to leave.”
- Close up, UNHCR spokesperson taking a photo
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “I have seen and I have witnessed the level of human rights violations that have happened within Sudan so that what we hear from people who have crossed the borders is really heartbreaking and that’s the protection crisis that we are faced with and it has been ongoing for the past six months.”
- Wide shot: speakers and attendees at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Abdouraouf Gnon Konde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for West and Central Africa: “In my long career as a humanitarian worker what I have seen in Chad with this new emergency with such a rapid and vast displacement of people is the first time.”
- Wide shot, camera operators in control room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Abdouraouf Gnon Konde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for West and Central Africa: “In Chad we estimate probably that by the end of the year we will reach unfortunately the number of 600,000 Sudanese refugees who will have just arrived following what’s happening in Sudan.”
- Medium shot: speaker at the press conference on podium filmed from behind
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ayman Y. Gharaibeh, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the Middle East and North Africa: “ We have received over 300,000 Sudanese since the crisis erupted. For those who don’t know: in Egypt already pre-crisis there is 6 million Sudanese. Egypt has been really the safety zone throughout the decades of Sudan turbulent years. A place of safety, for some people almost home.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “We need this to end, we need to have a cessation of hostilities, we need to have a peace process that will help our brothers and sisters who have been obliged to flee their countries to go back to their countries”.
- Medium shot: speakers at the podium
- Medium shot: operator in control room
- Wide shot, attendees in press room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNICEF , UN WOMEN , UNHCR , UNFPA , UNDP , UNIS
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and UN Women.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza newborns ‘scarred by war before first breath’ by preventable maternal malnutrition: UNICEF
Starving mothers in Gaza are giving birth to underweight or premature babies who die in intensive care units or struggle to survive as they endure acute malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA
Embargoed until Monday, December 8, at midnight (NY)/6:00am (Geneva)
Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on funding requirements ahead of the release of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango delivered the following remarks on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
The humanitarian situation in northern Mozambique continues to deteriorate sharply as prolonged attacks by non-State armed groups in Nampula trigger one of the largest displacement surges of the year, the UN warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNESCO , OCHA , UNICEF , IFRC , FAO , OHCHR , IPU
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to announce findings on Burundi, Guatemala, Maldives, New Zealand, Sweden and Tunisia
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
The deadly legacy of conflicts old and new from Gaza to Sudan and beyond continues to kill and maim civilians on a near-daily basis, mine action workers said on Wednesday, as they appealed for greater support for their lifesaving work in a context of deep funding cuts.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNMAS
Protecting people from mines and other explosive ordnance in complex settings
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNODA
Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNICEF
Asia: Lives upended in cyclone disasters, ‘extreme’ rainfall on the rise - UN agencies
Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon entire communities, UN agencies said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , UNDP , UNHCR , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Development Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the International Telecommunication Union.