Sudan violence forces 500,000 to flee: UN

ISTANBUL

More than half a million people have fled Sudan into neighboring countries since the outbreak of violence in April, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Tuesday.

"We have reached unfortunately also a very sad target — more than 500,000 people have now fled the fighting in Sudan to neighboring countries," Grandi said in a statement on Twitter marking the World Refugee Day.

"Guns must fall silent if we want this exodus to stop,” he added.

Sudan has been ravaged by clashes between the army and the RSF since April, in a conflict that killed nearly 1,000 civilians and injured 5,000 others, according to local medics.

More than 2.2 million people have been displaced by the current conflict in Sudan, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, Sudan has been without a functioning government. The move was widely condemned by political forces as a "coup."

The transitional period, which began in August 2019 following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was originally scheduled to conclude with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar