Sudan Requests International Support to Help Its 5 Million Refugees

A South Sudanese refugee waits for a food distribution at Al-Nimir camp in Sudan, August 2017. © UNHCR/Petterik Wiggers

Sudan has called upon the international community for financial support to be able to help the five million refugees who have settled in the African country.

Sudan’s economy cannot fulfill the needs of the large number of refugees.

The Secretary-General of the Sudanese Working Abroad Makeen Hamid Terab addressed the sixth meeting of the Arab Regional Consultation Process on the Coronavirus Effects on Migration and Refugee Affairs.

The meeting was organized by the Migration and Refugee Affairs department at the Arab League.

Terab, in his address, said that the Sudanese government was and still is working in close cooperation with friends and the international community to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus on refugees and to help Sudanese expats stuck abroad to return home.

Terab called on Arab countries to cooperate closely to overcome the effects of the coronavirus.

The meeting was attended my Arab League member states, international community organizations and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

Terab said that the meeting recognized that the Arab region showed more cases of the virus spreading than anywhere else in the world because of the migration movement and its expansion. More so, the Arab region is one of the world’s hubs for refugees.

The Sudanese official said that the government made great efforts to host the refugees and interact with their issues, noting the economic impact the pandemic had on supporting the refugees.

“The number of refugees in the country exceeded 5 million, which exceeds the country's economic potential. We ask the international community to expedite the provision of the necessary assistance so that Sudan can fulfill its responsibilities towards the displaced and refugees,” Terab said.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, last January, called for increased support for Sudan with the launch of a new funding appeal that seeks US$477 million to help over 900,000 refugees in the country together with nearly a quarter million of their Sudanese hosts in the coming year.