Latest news with #acuteHunger
The National
3 days ago
- General
- The National
Number of refugees who fled Sudan to escape war passes 4 million, UN agency says
More than four million people have fled Sudan since the start of the conflict in April 2023, the UN said on Tuesday, underlining the heavy toll the war has exacted on the impoverished nation of 50 million. The UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said that the figure, recorded on Monday, was a 'devastating milestone' and warned the continuing outflow of people would threaten regional and global stability. Besides the four million who left the country, the war has internally displaced about 10 million, giving the Afro-Arab nation the unenviable label of being home to the world's worst displacement crisis. Moreover, the war has left about 26 million people facing acute hunger, with pockets of famine surfacing in several parts of the country, mostly in the west. Apart from displacement, the war pitting the national army against the paramilitary Rapid Support forces has killed tens of thousands and destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Both sides of the war are accused by the UN and other groups of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The latest displacement figure was released at a time when the prospects for a negotiated settlement have become more remote. Late on Monday, RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo ruled out any negotiations with the army, saying he would not talk with 'murderers' and 'criminals'. Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the army chief and Sudan's de facto leader, has repeatedly stated his intention to fight on until the RSF is vanquished. The stalemate leaves the country effectively divided between the two sides, with the army controlling the capital Khartoum as well as central, northern and eastern Sudan. The RSF controls all of the western Darfur region save for the army-held city of El Fasher and parts of Kordofan and the southern region. 'Four million people now have fled Sudan into neighbouring countries since the start of the war, now in it's third year,' UNHCR spokeswoman Eujin Byun said at a press briefing in Geneva. 'It's a devastating milestone in what is the world's most damaging displacement crisis,' Ms Byun added. 'If the conflict continues, thousands more people will continue to flee, putting regional and global stability at stake.' UNHCR figures showed that 4,003,385 people had fled Sudan as refugees, asylum seekers, and returnees as of Monday. Of those, 1.5 million have fled to Egypt; more than 1.1 million to South Sudan, including nearly 800,000 returnees who had been refugees themselves in Sudan; and more than 850,000 to Chad. The UNHCR described a deepening humanitarian emergency in eastern Chad, where the number of Sudanese refugees has more than tripled since the war broke out. Chad was already hosting more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees before the conflict began, and the figure has now passed 1.2 million. This is placing 'unsustainable pressure on Chad's ability to respond', said Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR's principal situation co-ordinator in Chad, speaking from Amdjarass in the country's east. He said there had been an influx across the border since late April following violent attacks in Sudan's North Darfur region, including assaults on displacement camps. In just over a month, 68,556 refugees have arrived in Chad's Wadi Fira and Ennedi Est provinces, with an average of 1,400 people crossing the border daily in recent days, he said. 'These civilians are fleeing in terror, many under fire, navigating armed checkpoints, extortion, and tight restrictions imposed by armed groups,' Mr Ahouansou said. He said the emergency response was 'dangerously underfunded', with people living in 'dire' shelter conditions, and tens of thousands exposed to extreme weather, insecurity and water shortages. UNHCR said there was an urgent need for the international community 'to acknowledge, and act to eradicate, the grave human rights abuses being endured in Sudan'. 'Without a significant increase in funding, life-saving assistance cannot be delivered at the scale and speed required,' Mr Ahouansou said.
News.com.au
16-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Global acute hunger hits new high, 2025 outlook 'bleak': UN-backed report
More than 295 million people faced acute hunger last year, a new high driven by conflict along with other crises -- and the outlook is "bleak" for 2025 as humanitarian aid falters, a UN-backed report said Friday. It was the sixth consecutive annual increase in the number of people hit with "high levels" of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises. A total of 295.3 million people endured acute hunger last year -- almost a quarter of the population in 53 of the 65 countries analysed for the report. This was up from 281.6 million people in 2023, according to the report, which is drafted by a consortium of international organisations and NGOs. The number of people facing famine reached 1.9 million, more than double from the previous year, according to the report. A food security monitor warned on Monday that Gaza was at a "critical risk of famine" after more than two months of an Israeli aid blockade. "From Gaza and Sudan, to Yemen and Mali, catastrophic hunger driven by conflict and other factors is hitting record highs, pushing households to the edge of starvation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report. "The message is stark. Hunger and malnutrition are spreading faster than our ability to respond, yet globally, a third of all food produced is lost or wasted," he said. Conflict and violence were the primary drivers in 20 countries and territories, where 140 million people faced acute hunger, the report found. Extreme weather was to blame in 18 countries and "economic shocks" in 15 nations, together affecting a total of 155 million people. The deteriorating situations in Gaza, Myanmar and Sudan outweighed improvements in Afghanistan and Kenya. - 'Failure of humanity' - The report warned that the outlook was "bleak" for 2025 as as major donor countries have substantially reduced humanitarian funding. "This is more than a failure of systems -– it is a failure of humanity," Guterres said. "Hunger in the 21st century is indefensible. We cannot respond to empty stomachs with empty hands and turned backs," he said. The "abrupt termination" of funding in 2025 has disrupted humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen, the report said. Funding to humanitarian food sectors is projected to sink by up to 45 percent, it said. US President Donald Trump's administration has dramatically cut foreign aid spending, but other countries have also reduced their contributions. The report added that "economic shocks" are likely to be a major driver of acute food insecurity as the global economy faces "high uncertainty" due to US tariffs and a weaker US dollar.
