IOM: More Than 10 Million People Displaced by Sudan War

Families sit beneath clotheslines as they await meals provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

More than 10 million Sudanese, or 20% of the population, have been driven from their homes since the war there began, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, as the world's largest displacement crisis continues to worsen.
The number is the latest dire figure out of the east African country, devastated by a conflict that began in April 2023. The war has left half the population of about 50 million facing a hunger crisis and in need of humanitarian aid, the most of any country.
More than 2.2 million people have fled to other countries since the war began, while almost 7.8 million sought refuge inside the country, the IOM said in a bimonthly report. An additional 2.8 million people were already displaced by previous conflicts in the country.
"All refugees I met said the reason why they fled Sudan was hunger," said World Health Organization country director Dr. Shible Sahbani to reporters after visiting refugees from Darfur, the source of half of the displaced population, in Chad.
"A woman who just reached Adré reported that all food they used to produce locally in Darfur was taken by the fighters," he added.
Many displaced are now in Gedaref state, which hosts 668,000 people who face heavy rains with limited shelter, and where RSF units have staged incursions.