Nairobi, November 9 — The exodus of refugees from Sudan reached a devastating milestone this week, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. Over three million people have been forced to flee.
“The continuing bloodshed in Sudan has created the world’s worst civilian protection crisis in decades – and the world is not paying any attention,” UNHCR said in a statement.
The exodus is allegedly reaching levels not seen since the beginning of the war. In October, 60,000 Sudanese arrived in Chad following the escalation of fighting in Darfur and flooding. UNHCR said people are arriving in “desperate conditions, carrying nothing but memories of unimaginable violence they witnessed and survived.”
Over 70 percent of refugees arriving in Chad have reported surviving human rights violations in Sudan will fleeing, many of whom are women and children. UNHCR said the levels of trauma are “devastating” with families in shock after fleeing the horrors and still continuing to live in fear. It is the largest refugee influx in Chad’s history.
Adre, a small border town in Chad, has seen its population increase sevenfold and now hosts 230,000 Sudanese refugees who are waiting to be relocated inland. Currently, there is only one doctor for 24,000 patients. Most children have been out of school for nearly two years and arrive malnourished.
UNHCR said that the needs are immense in many host countries — including Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt and the Central African Republic — who are feeling the pressure. “National facilities are collapsing under the strain of continuous arrivals,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Regional Refugee Reponse Plan for Sudan is only 29 percent funded. “This is one of the largest emergencies in the world, yet among the least reported and funded,” UNHCR said.