Dilara Afifi
14 June 2023•Update: 14 June 2023
ISTANBUL
More than 2.2 million people have been displaced in Sudan since the outbreak of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the IOM said 1,670,991 people have been displaced internally and 528,147 fled to neighboring countries.
“The highest proportions of internally displaced people have been observed in West Darfur (16.95%), River Nile (14.12%), White Nile (13.56%), and Northern state (11.32%),” it noted.
The IOM said the majority have been displaced from Khartoum state (64.45%), West Darfur (17.19%), South Darfur (8.54%), Central Darfur (5.49%), North Darfur (3.04%), North Kordofan (0.26%), and Al-Jazirah (0.03%).”
According to the organization, at least 205,565 Sudanese have fled Sudan into Egypt, 149,383 people into Chad, 110,980 into South Sudan, 45,605 into Ethiopia, 15,219 into the Central African Republic and 1,395 people into Libya.
According to local medics, at least 958 civilians have been killed and 4,746 others injured in clashes between the army and the RSF since April 15.
Disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the two military rivals over integration of the RSF into the armed forces — a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since fall 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."
The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi
