GENEVA: More than 800,000 people may flee Sudan as a result of fighting between military factions, including many who had already come there as refugees, a UN official said on Monday.
“Without a quick resolution of this crisis we will continue to see more people forced to flee in search of safety and basic assistance,” Raouf Mazou told a member state briefing in Geneva.
“In consultation with all concerned governments and partners we’ve arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into the seven neighboring countries.”
The estimate includes around 580,000 Sudanese, he said, with the others existing refugees from South Sudan and elsewhere.
So far, he said some 73,000 people have already fled to Sudan’s seven neighbors: South Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Libya.
At the same briefing, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Sudan warned that the humanitarian crisis was turning into a “full blown catastrophe” and that the risk of spillover into neighboring countries was worrying.
“It has been more than two weeks of devastating fighting in Sudan, a conflict that is turning Sudan humanitarian crisis into a full blown catastrophe,” Abdou Dieng, resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country, said via video link.
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More than 800,000 may flee Sudan violence: UN
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More than 800,000 may flee Sudan violence: UN
- The UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan warned that the humanitarian crisis was turning into a “full blown catastrophe”
Dozen people entered Egypt from Gaza on first day of Rafah opening: source
RAFAH: A handful of injured Palestinians and their companions entered Egypt from Gaza on Monday, the first day of a limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing, a source on the Egyptian side of the border told AFP.
“Five injured people and seven companions” crossed the border, the source said on Tuesday.
The reopening, demanded by the United Nations and aid groups, is a key part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s truce plan for Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire after two years of war.
The number of patients allowed to enter Egypt through the crossing was limited to 50 on Monday, each accompanied by two companions, according to three officials at the Egyptian border.
An Egyptian health official told AFP on Monday that three ambulances had arrived with Palestinian patients who were screened upon arrival to determine which hospital to be taken to.
AlQahera News, citing Egypt’s health ministry, reported that 150 hospitals and 300 ambulances had been prepared to receive Palestinian patients.
It said 12,000 doctors and 30 rapid deployment teams had been allocated to work with those transferred.
The director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, said there were 20,000 patients in the territory in urgent need of treatment, including 4,500 children.
There was no official announcement of the number of people who returned to Gaza via the crossing.
AFP images on Monday showed empty buses crossing back to Egypt after transporting Palestinians to Gaza earlier in the day.
The partial resumption of operations at the crossing comes after Israeli forces seized control of the gateway to Egypt in May 2024 during the war with Hamas.
Gaza’s civil defense reported dozens killed in a wave of Israeli strikes over the weekend, in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian fighters exiting a tunnel in Rafah city.
Ali Shaath, the head of a Palestinian technocratic committee established to oversee the day-to-day governance of Gaza, said Rafah’s reopening offered a “window of hope” for the territory.
“Five injured people and seven companions” crossed the border, the source said on Tuesday.
The reopening, demanded by the United Nations and aid groups, is a key part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s truce plan for Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire after two years of war.
The number of patients allowed to enter Egypt through the crossing was limited to 50 on Monday, each accompanied by two companions, according to three officials at the Egyptian border.
An Egyptian health official told AFP on Monday that three ambulances had arrived with Palestinian patients who were screened upon arrival to determine which hospital to be taken to.
AlQahera News, citing Egypt’s health ministry, reported that 150 hospitals and 300 ambulances had been prepared to receive Palestinian patients.
It said 12,000 doctors and 30 rapid deployment teams had been allocated to work with those transferred.
The director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, said there were 20,000 patients in the territory in urgent need of treatment, including 4,500 children.
There was no official announcement of the number of people who returned to Gaza via the crossing.
AFP images on Monday showed empty buses crossing back to Egypt after transporting Palestinians to Gaza earlier in the day.
The partial resumption of operations at the crossing comes after Israeli forces seized control of the gateway to Egypt in May 2024 during the war with Hamas.
Gaza’s civil defense reported dozens killed in a wave of Israeli strikes over the weekend, in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian fighters exiting a tunnel in Rafah city.
Ali Shaath, the head of a Palestinian technocratic committee established to oversee the day-to-day governance of Gaza, said Rafah’s reopening offered a “window of hope” for the territory.
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