Sudanese Refugees Face Gruelling Wait in Overcrowded S. Sudan Camps

Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP/File
Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP/File
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Sudanese Refugees Face Gruelling Wait in Overcrowded S. Sudan Camps

Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP/File
Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP/File

A new truck arrives in the South Sudanese town of Renk, packed with dozens of elderly men, women and children, their exhausted faces betraying the strain of their traumatic journey out of war-ravaged Sudan.

They are among more than half a million people who have crossed the border into South Sudan, which is struggling to accommodate the new arrivals.

Renk is just 10 kilometres (six miles) from Sudan, where fighting broke out in April last year between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Since then, Renk's two UN-run transit centers have been overwhelmed by an uninterrupted influx of frightened people, fleeing for their lives.

The journey is rife with danger, said Fatima Mohammed, a 33-year-old teacher who escaped with her husband and five children from El-Obeid city in central Sudan.

"The bullets were entering our house. We were trapped between crossfire in our own street. So we understood that we needed to leave for the good of our kids," she told AFP, describing the situation in Sudan as "unsustainable".

It took them five days to make their escape, with Sudanese soldiers and RSF fighters "making (it) difficult for us to leave the country".

"They took all our phones at one checkpoint, a lot of our money (at) another one. We saw abuses happening at those checkpoints," she said.

Since the start of the conflict, nearly eight million people, half of them children, have fled Sudan.

Around 560,000 of them have taken refuge in South Sudan, according to the United Nations, which estimates that around 1,500 new arrivals turn up in the country every day.

Many spend months waiting in the transit camps, hopeful that someday soon they will be able to return home.

Iman David fled fighting in Sudan's capital Khartoum with her then three-month-old daughter, leaving her husband behind.

"It was supposed to be a short stay, but I am still stuck here in Renk after seven months," the 20-year-old told AFP.

"My hope is to go back to Khartoum and reunite with my husband but I don't know his fate."

The war has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, according to UN figures.

Around 25 million people, more than half of Sudan's population, need humanitarian assistance, while around 3.8 million children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition, the UN says.

While many in Renk long to return home, others hope to travel onwards to the town of Malakal in Upper Nile state, which is also hosting a huge number of refugees.

At Renk port, hundreds of people lined up under the oppressive glare of the midday sun, waiting hours to hop aboard the metal boats which make the trip at least twice a week.

As she waited, Lina Juna, a 27-year-old mother of four, told AFP her final destination was the South Sudanese capital Juba.

"I have nothing to do in Juba, no family members or friends, no business or work to take care of because I have spent all my life in Sudan," she said.

"But I still expect Juba to be much better than Khartoum," she added, recalling days spent struggling to find food as heavy fighting rocked the city.

Several hours later, she managed to board a boat, one of two carrying some 300 people each.

"Today is a good day for us," said Deng Samson, who works for the International Organization for Migration.

"Some weeks we have seen ourselves completely overwhelmed," he told AFP, adding that the approaching monsoon made him nervous.

"We are truly afraid of what will happen when the rainy season comes, with waters rising from the river and disrupting the normal functioning of the port."

With up to 10 trucks and buses turning up in Renk every day, the UN is trying to mobilize the international community, launching an appeal for $4.1 billion this month to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs.



Cohen Meeting Escalates Protests in Western Libya Against Unity Government

Pro-Dbeibah government forces intervening to disperse protesters in central Tripoli (AFP)
Pro-Dbeibah government forces intervening to disperse protesters in central Tripoli (AFP)
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Cohen Meeting Escalates Protests in Western Libya Against Unity Government

Pro-Dbeibah government forces intervening to disperse protesters in central Tripoli (AFP)
Pro-Dbeibah government forces intervening to disperse protesters in central Tripoli (AFP)

Protests have intensified in western Libya against the interim Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, following the revelation of a meeting between former Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush and then-Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome last year.

In response to the demonstrations, Dbeibah accused foreign nations of being “involved in conspiracies to divide the country” and alleged that domestic factions were “fueling the protests” that erupted in multiple cities across western Libya against his government.

While Dbeibah refrained from naming these local factions during a speech delivered on Friday at the conclusion of the Entrepreneurs Forum and General Gathering of Youth Hostel Members in Misrata, he accused them of “manipulating young people to create discord and drag Libya backward.” He stressed that these groups “only seek war, destruction, and corruption.”

Speaking of “real conspiracies to divide Libya,” Dbeibah pledged that the country would remain unified. He addressed the youth, saying: “You are the future. We need you to step forward and defend your nation. We will not accept a return to the logic of force after the February 17 Revolution, and we will not allow it.”

In eastern Libya, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh, refrained from commenting on Dbeibah’s statements.

Saleh, however, emphasized that the solution to Libya’s political gridlock lies in holding “free and fair elections, with all sides committed to respecting the results.”

He pointed out that the House of Representatives had enacted electoral laws to facilitate this process and called for the formation of a unified government to steer Libya toward stability.

In remarks broadcast by his media office on Friday, Saleh asserted that he had “taken no actions aimed at excluding or marginalizing any party.” He pointed to the importance of national reconciliation for achieving peace and security and denied aligning with any external or international forces.

Saleh further urged support for the National Reconciliation Law as a vital step toward resolving disputes, stressing “the significance of the peaceful transfer of power.”

On Friday evening, protests erupted in Misrata, Dbeibah’s hometown, coinciding with his visit. Demonstrators expressed their rejection of what they perceived as normalization efforts with Israel and demanded Dbeibah’s resignation. In a statement, some Misrata residents condemned the meetings between his government and Israeli officials as a “grave betrayal.”