Over 300,000 fled conflict-torn Sudan to neighboring countries: UN

GENEVA

More than 300,000 people have fled war-torn Sudan to neighboring countries, the UN high commissioner for refugees said Wednesday.

"Many have crossed the borders of Chad and Egypt in the last few days," Filippo Grandi said on Twitter.

“Donor contributions to the refugee response plan remain scarce. We need more resources, urgently, to support countries hosting refugees,” Grandi added.

According to the UN, more than 700 people have been killed, including 190 children, and 6,000 others injured, since the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in mid-April.

Some 840,000 people have been internally displaced due to the conflict, it said.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the two sides about the 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 October 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.