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‘Unimaginable trauma’ haunts Sudan’s displaced while violence, famine threaten millions
Horrific violence and the risk of famine continue to stalk the people of Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Friday, as they echoed condemnation by the UN Secretary-General of an attack on a village south of Khartoum that reportedly left more than 100 dead.
Briefing journalists in Geneva from Port Sudan, Mohamed Refaat, the UN migration agency (IOM)’s chief of mission in the country highlighted “truly horrifying reports of violent attacks and casualties” in the village of Wad Al-Noura in Aj Jazirah state on Wednesday.
The attack was reportedly carried out by the RSF and believed to have killed over 100 people, including at least 35 children, drawing condemnation from UN chief António Guterres and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) head Catherine Russell.
At another flashpoint of the conflict, in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher in Sudan’s west, some 800,000 civilians are still in danger amid intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The location is “inaccessible” to the UN either cross-live or cross-border, Mr. Refaat said. He called for all parties to facilitate unimpeded aid access to the area “through all available routes” and stressed that the prices of water and fuel there have “skyrocketed”, making essentials unaffordable.
Internal displacement in Sudan since the start of the conflict on 15 April 2023 has almost reached the 10 million mark, IOM’s Mr. Refaat noted, with food insecurity an increasing factor in people’s decision to flee. Some 18 million people in the country are acutely hungry while 3.6 million children are acutely malnourished.
In addition to the internally displaced, over two million people have fled across Sudan’s borders into neighbouring countries, mainly Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, “often arriving in extremely vulnerable conditions and highly traumatized”, Mr. Refaat stressed.
The IOM spokesperson also warned of a threefold increase recorded by IOM last year “in Sudanese taking dangerous, irregular migration corridors into Libya, Tunisia, onward to Europe” and quoted “unconfirmed reports” of some 2,000 families currently “stranded in hard conditions, including migrants between the borders between Egypt, Libya and Sudan”.
Echoing his comments, Alpha Seydi Ba, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)’s regional spokesperson for West and Central Africa, spoke of the devastating situation in Chad, where over 600,000 Sudanese have arrived since the start of the crisis. “You've seen people coming on a daily basis by dozens in a very, very bad shape, and most of them are women, children who have experienced an unimaginable, unimaginable trauma,” he said.
Chad was already hosting more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees before this crisis, Mr. Ba explained, adding, “we really appreciate that… the authorities have kept their borders open”. But responding to refugees’ basic needs such as shelter, food, access to education for children and psychological support has become increasingly challenging due to funding shortfalls.
UNHCR said that the response plan for five neighbouring countries hosting those who have fled Sudan, for a total of $1.4 billion, is only nine per cent funded. The humanitarian response inside Sudan remains only 16 per cent funded.
Meanwhile, the UN health agency WHO sounded the alarm over the dire health situation in the country which has been further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
“The health system in Sudan is collapsing,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told journalists, adding that some 65 per cent of the population lack access to care.
“Health care in Sudan typically relied heavily on Khartoum, where the health care system was decimated,” Mr. Lindmeier said. “Only about 25 per cent of the medical supplies needed are available in the country. In hard-to-reach areas, only 20 to 30 per cent of health facilities remain functional, and even so, at a minimal level.”
The WHO spokesperson warned of a record number of measles cases in 2023 as vaccination rates declined due to the conflict.
“Unfortunately, we expect 2024 to be worse,” he added.
WHO said that cholera, malaria and dengue are also on the rise and expressed concern over the lack of treatment for people suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases and kidney failure.
-Ends -
STORY: Sudan crisis update IOM – UNHCR - WHO
TRT: 2:32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 7 JUNE 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
2. Wide lateral shot: speakers at the podium of the press conference from behind; speaker on screen; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Alpha Seydi Ba, Regional Spokesperson for West and Central Africa, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “You've seen people coming on a daily basis by dozens in a very, very bad shape, and most of them are women, children who have experienced an unimaginable, unimaginable trauma.”
4. Wide lateral shot: Speakers at podium from behind; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Mohamed Refaat, Sudan Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “For the UN, El Fasher is inaccessible either cross-line or cross-border. We have all seen the horrific news coming from the small village of Wad Al-Noura. We're hearing of truly horrifying reports of violent attacks and casualties in the village of Wad Al-Noura in Aj Jazirah State.”
6. Wide lateral shot: Speakers at podium from behind; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Mohamed Refaat, Sudan Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “Some 12 million have been forced to flee their homes in Sudan, with over two million crossing borders into neighbouring countries, mainly Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, often arriving in extremely vulnerable conditions and highly traumatized.”
8. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room; speaker on screen.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Mohamed Refaat, Sudan Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “Last year, IOM teams have recorded a threefold increase in Sudanese taking dangerous, irregular migration corridors into Libya, Tunisia, onward to Europe. As we speak now, we have unconfirmed reports about 2,000 families stranded in hard conditions, including migrants between the borders between Egypt, Libya and Sudan.”
10. Medium shot: Speakers at podium in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “The health system in Sudan is collapsing. About 65 per cent of the Sudanese population lack access to health care. Health care in Sudan typically relied heavily on Khartoum, where the health care system was decimated. Only about 25 per cent of the medical supplies needed are available in the country. In hard-to-reach areas, only 20 to 30 per cent of health facilities remain functional, and even so, at a minimal level.”
12. Wide lateral shot: Journalists in the Press room.
13. Medium shot: Technicians in the control room of the Press room.
14. Medium shot: Cameraperson in the Press room.
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New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
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Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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