IOM: Sudan faces massive humanitarian needs

The Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope, warned on Wednesday that “the scale of humanitarian needs in Sudan is extremely large.”

Pope said that the current displacement crisis has reached “an enormous scale,” amid growing reports of horrific violence against civilians.

She made the remarks during a press briefing held from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, for journalists in New York.

The IOM chief revealed alarming figures on displacement, stressing that the purpose of her visit is to draw attention to the crisis, which comes at a time when global humanitarian aid is witnessing an unprecedented decline.

On Monday, Pope arrived in Sudan for a five-day visit, during which was set to meet several officials and visit displaced communities in the city of Al-Dabbah in the Northern State and in the capital, Khartoum.

Sudan’s humanitarian suffering continues to worsen due to the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced around 13 million people.

Pope highlighted the dire conditions in key conflict zones, noting that “the numbers keep rising.”

She pointed out that around 90,000 people have fled the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, in the past two weeks, while nearly 50,000 others have been displaced following recent events in the Kordofan region in the south.

The IOM official also shared testimonies from displaced people fleeing conflict areas, saying they face horrific dangers along the way.

READ: UN officials warn of rising violence, ‘dangerous’ drift in South Sudan