Over four million Sudanese have fled as war enters third year, says UN
The number of people who have fled Sudan since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023 has now exceeded four million, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) announced Tuesday, describing the displacement as the most severe global crisis of its kind.
“This is a devastating milestone in what has become the world’s most damaging displacement crisis,” said UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun during a press briefing in Geneva. “Now in its third year, this war continues to uproot lives and destabilize an entire region.”
Sudan’s conflict has triggered a mass exodus into neighboring countries, including Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and Libya. Chad alone has received more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees, most of whom are now living in dire conditions. UNHCR officials warned that shelters and basic services are drastically underfunded, with only 14% of the agency’s appeal for Chad met so far.
“This is an unprecedented crisis. It is a crisis of protection, of humanity,” said UNHCR emergency coordinator Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, highlighting widespread accounts of violence and trauma shared by refugees.
He recalled meeting a seven-year-old girl in Chad who had lost her leg while fleeing an armed attack on a displacement camp in Sudan’s Zamzam area. Her father and two brothers were killed in the assault, and her mother had been killed in a previous attack. “Stories like hers are far too common,” he added.
Ahouansou also described harrowing reports of armed groups confiscating animals used for transport, forcing civilians to drag carts carrying elderly or injured family members during their escape.
UN officials warned that without a resolution to the conflict, the number of people fleeing Sudan will continue to rise, further straining the already fragile humanitarian infrastructure in neighboring countries and posing broader risks to regional stability.
Sudan’s war, which erupted between rival military factions, has decimated communities and left millions in need of food, water, and protection. Aid agencies continue to urge the international community for urgent funding and political action to contain the growing humanitarian catastrophe.
