The number of internally displaced persons in Sudan has reached 11 million, making this country the scene of a conflict that has forced more people to flee their homes worldwide. In addition, there are another 3.1 million refugees in neighboring countries, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In a teleconference press briefing from Port Sudan for accredited press at the UN in Geneva, IOM Director General Amy Pope highlighted the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. "It is possibly the most forgotten crisis in the world today, and the failure to address it could mean its spread to neighboring nations," she emphasized.
Pope pointed out the increasing hunger, disease, and sexual violence amid a conflict that is not receiving the necessary media coverage. She stressed the need to pay greater attention to this situation to prevent greater regional instability in areas such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea coast, which also suffer from violence by armed groups.
The IOM director warned about the presence of external forces that are fueling the conflict, which has led to one-third of the Sudanese population being forced to leave their homes. More than half of the displaced are women, and a quarter are children under five years old. Pope mentioned the precarious situation in regions like Darfur, in the west of the country, where famine is imminent.
Furthermore, the IOM director denounced that restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles imposed by the warring parties continue to hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable populations. In this regard, she described the situation in Sudan as "simply catastrophic."
