UN Predicts 100,000 People Have Fled Sudan as Conflict Getting Worse

VIVA – United Nations (UN) estimates more than 100,000 people have fled Sudan because the war is getting worse, especially since fierce fighting broke out between two military factions on April 15, 2023. Officials warned of a "full-blown catastrophe" if fighting does not end.

Fighting is continuing in the capital, Khartoum, between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite a ceasefire due to be in force.

Diplomatic efforts are being stepped up to try and get the warring parties to the negotiating table.

On Tuesday, South Sudan's foreign ministry said the army and RSF had agreed "in principle" to a new seven-day truce from 4 May, and had promised to send representatives to talks.

Its statement came a day after the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes said that the two sides had agreed to negotiate a "stable and reliable" ceasefire.

If talks take place, it would be the first meeting between the two sides since the conflict started.

More than 500 people have been killed and more than 4,000 have been wounded in the fighting, according to Sudan's health ministry.

A series of temporary ceasefires have failed to hold, with the military continuing to pound Khartoum with air strikes in a bid to weaken the RSF.

The paramilitary group said it shot down a MiG fighter jet over the city, but there is no independent confirmation of the claim. Heaving fighting has also taken place in Darfur in western Sudan.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Olga Sarrado stated in Geneva that the 100,000 total included people from Sudan, South Sudanese citizens returning home, and people who were already refugees within Sudan fleeing the fighting.

Refugees have also been fleeing over Sudan's border with Egypt in the north and Chad in the west.