HIGHLIGHTS
• Sudan hosts over 360,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen
• Influx from South Sudan continues, with 5,000 arrivals from Raja into East Darfur reported over the past week.
• Response needed for an estimated 17,000 people displaced as a result of violence in Thur, Central Darfur.
• Several casualties reported as a result of inter-communal violence in Um Tajok, West Darfur.
Sudan hosts 360,000 refugees and asylum seekers
World Refugee Day was marked on 20 June across the world, to highlight the courage and resilience of people forced to flee war or persecution. According to a report by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 65.3 million people were displaced globally as of the end of 2015, compared to 59.5 million just twelve months earlier. This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed and means that 1 in every 113 people globally is now either an asylum seeker, internally displaced or a refugee.
Amid this global backdrop, Sudan generously hosts some 360,000 refugees and asylum seekers from nearby countries, namely Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. South Sudanese comprise the largest refugee population in Sudan, with over 231,000 arrivals since conflict erupted in South Sudan in December 2013. White Nile State hosts the majority of the South Sudanese, with over 95,000 refugees living across eight designated sites and host communities in the state.
Since the start of 2016, South Sudanese have also come in large numbers to Darfur, with 53,000 arrivals in East Darfur and over 5,000 in South Darfur to date. Significant numbers of South Sudanese are also present in settlements and host communities in Khartoum, West Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. In addition, there are some 350,000 South Sudanese who remained in Sudan following South Sudan’s separation in 2011, whose status remains unclear, leaving them at risk of statelessness.
Eastern Sudan hosts over 93,000 refugees and asylum seekers, the vast majority from Eritrea. Nearly 80,000 live in nine camps in Kassala, Al Gezira and Gedaref states, where basic services are supported by Sudan’s Commission of Refugees (COR), UNHCR and partners. While a large number have been living in a protracted situation, a steady flow of new arrivals from Eritrea continues to cross the border daily.
Khartoum State hosts an estimated refugee and asylum seeker population of over 60,000, which includes Eritreans, Ethiopians, South Sudanese and a growing number of Syrians and Yemenis that have sought safety in Sudan in recent years and whose exact numbers are difficult to verify. The urban context presents different challenges for refugees and asylum seekers than camp or settlement settings and UNHCR has been supporting these people to gain access to local services and providing assistance particularly in the areas of documentation, health, education and livelihoods.
In addition to the recent South Sudanese arrivals in Darfur, there are 8,300 Chadian refugees in Um Shalaya and Mukjar refugee camps in Central Darfur, and some 1,300 refugees from CAR in Nyala, South Darfur who continue to rely on humanitarian support.
South Sudanese influx into Sudan continues
South Sudanese refugees continue to seek shelter and humanitarian assistance in countries in the region as a result of conflict and deteriorating food security conditions in South Sudan, as noted in a recent report by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the regional impact. Over the past week, new arrivals from South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal State were reported in parts of East Darfur State near the South Sudan border.
Over 5,000 new arrivals from Raja, South Sudan in East Darfur On 23 June, the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) reported that 3,000 people from Raja in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal State had arrived in the Shabakat area in East Darfur over the past week. Shabakat is 90km south of El Ferdous town, El Ferdous locality. On 24 June, a team comprising HAC, Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and the international NGO American Refugee Committee visited El Sraj (70km south of El Ferdous town) and registered 5,244 arrivals from South Sudan.
The team reported that the overall number of new arrivals from South Sudan, mainly from Raja, is estimated to be 7,000-8,000 people, with some of the new arrivals having reached Abu Sinidira settlement (50km south of El Ferdous). According to the mission, most of the refugees are older people, children and women who came on foot and their condition is very poor. A high incidence of diarrheal and eye diseases is reported amongst the new arrivals, who are in dire need of food and shelter.
Host communities in El Ferdous have provided initial food assistance for the new arrivals.
East Darfur State authorities are preparing to send urgent food supplies to the area on 27 June. A rapid inter-agency assessment mission to El Sraj and Abu Sinidira is planned for 3 July, with aid agencies aiming to provide initial essential household, sanitation, shelter and nutrition assistance. The Health Sector is arranging to dispatch a mobile clinic to the area and WFP will dispatch emergency food assistance after the rapid assessment.
This latest influx of South Sudanese brings the total number of arrivals from South Sudan into East Darfur since February 2016 to over 53,000 people. The majority of them, about 30,000 people, have been registered in Khor Omer camp in Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur. Overall, about 77,500 South Sudanese have arrived in Sudan in 2016.