4 April 2025
Mohamed Refaat, IOM Chief of Mission in
Sudan, was speaking to reporters after returning from
previously inaccessible Khartoum state, which is now back
under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces
(SAF).
War erupted between the SAF and former ally the
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, and civilians
continue to bear the brunt of the violence.
Recent
weeks have seen intense fighting around the capital city,
Khartoum, which had mostly been under RSF
control.
‘Unimaginable’
destruction
Mr. Refaat said that even he was
shocked by the level of destruction in the
city.
“Electricity stations have been looted; the
water pipes have been destroyed. And I’m not talking about
some areas. I’m talking about everywhere I went,” he
said.
The veteran aid worker has served in other
conflict situations, including Libya and Yemen, “and
the level of destruction I have seen in Bahri,
Khartoum, is unimaginable,” he
remarked.
“There has been targeting of not only
people’s houses, but administrative areas, not military
areas, but all the basic infrastructure that can maintain
lives for people.”
Massive re-investment is needed
to help all those returning to the Sudanese capital after
nearly two years of war, he said.
Horrors all
around
Mr. Refaat described meeting Sarah, an
elderly maths teacher, unable to flee the violence.
Her days had been “filled with horror”,
witnessing the loss of loved ones, seeing homes destroyed
and being surrounded by the permanent threat of violence and
sexual abuse.
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“Sarah’s decision to stay was
driven by necessity,” he explained. “As an
elderly woman, it would be dangerous and challenging to go
by foot, and she has no transportation.”
In the
absence of funding, many non-government organizations (NGOs)
have stopped working or reduced operations. Mr. Refaat
insisted that there are many more people like Sarah who have
received no assistance.
Funding crisis
widespread
“Funding has dried (up)
but not only from Member States, but also from diaspora and
charity organizations,” he said.
He
stressed that more humanitarian funding is urgently needed
for medicine, shelter, drinking water, education, and
healthcare.
IOM is seeking $250
million to assist some 1.7 million people in Sudan this
year but less than 10 per cent of funding has been
received.
Families on the
run
The UN is gravely concerned by reports
that civilians are fleeing Khartoum city due to violence and
fears of extrajudicial killings after Government forces
regained control of the capital, UN Spokesperson Stéphane
Dujarric said
on Friday in New York.
Over the past week, some 5,000
displaced people, mostly from Khartoum, arrived in Jabrat El
Sheikh in North Kordofan state, according to UN aid
coordination office OCHA.
Partners on
the ground said families urgently need food, clean water,
proper shelter and healthcare
“Reports also indicate
that others have fled Khartoum and other areas towards Um
Dukhun, which is located in Central Darfur,” said Mr.
Dujarric. The UN and humanitarian partners are working to
verify the reports.
A wider
trend
The latest movements are part of a
broader trend of conflict-driven displacement impacting
multiple regions in Sudan, including the Blue Nile and South
Kordofan.
The overall situation across the country
“remains complex and challenging,” he said, with
civilians fleeing for their safety in some locations and
trying to return home in other locations where basic
services often have been decimated.
OCHA is working to
reach people in the South Kordofan capital Kadugli by
facilitating the dispatch of a humanitarian convoy carrying
nutrition, health and water purification
supplies.
However, the convoy remains stalled in Al
Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, due to insecurity and
bureaucratic impediments.
Not a
target
On Thursday, UN humanitarian affairs
chief Tom Fletcher expressed outrage over reports of
escalating attacks against community kitchens and safe
spaces run by volunteers.
In a
social media post, he stressed that the work of these
frontline volunteers is vital to people’s survival after
almost two years of war, underscoring that humanitarians
must be protected and supported, not targeted.
Mr.
Dujarric reiterated his message.
“At the risk of
sounding like a broken record, we remind all parties that
under international humanitarian law, they have a legal
obligation to allow and facilitate rapid, unimpeded and
impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need,
regardless of the location or the affiliation of these
civilians,” he
said.
