Up to 300,000 people displaced in recent upsurge in Sudan fighting: UN migration agency

GENEVA

As many as 300,000 people are fleeing Sudan's second-biggest city, Wad Madani, in the latest wave of large-scale displacement after fighting spread across the region, the UN migration agency said on Thursday.

According to initial estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than half a million people had taken refuge in the Al Jazirah state since the start of the crisis in April and they are again on move following a fighting which broke out in the outskirts of Wad Madani last week.

"This is a human tragedy of immense proportions, deepening the country's already dire humanitarian crisis," IOM Director General Amy Pope said in a statement, adding that the intensifying conflict and growing displacement underscore "the urgency of a peaceful resolution, the need for a cease-fire and a robust response to avert a wider catastrophe." 

The latest movements will push Sudan's total displaced population beyond 7.1 million – "the world's largest displacement crisis," the IOM said.

It added that more than 1.5 million people have fled to neighboring countries due to the conflict,  food insecurity,  and economic collapse.  

Sudan has been mired by fighting between the army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the country's ruling Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April.

Several cease-fire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators have failed to end the violence.