Spotlight
14 May 2024
Sudan - Conflict triggers more displacement than in previous 14 years combined
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on 15 April 2023, engulfing Sudan in its largest internal displacement crisis since data became available for the country in 2009. The conflict triggered 6 million displacements during the year, more than the previous 14 years combined. It left 9.1 million people internally displaced as of the end of the year, making Sudan the country with the highest number of IDPs globally.
Despite the national scope of the conflict, nearly two-thirds of the internal displacements recorded in 2023 originated from Khartoum state. More than 39 per cent of the state's inhabitants were forced to flee, leaving entire neighbourhoods empty. Most IDPs sought safety with host families in other urban areas, while refugees, mostly from South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, had to relocate to already overcrowded camps.
As the conflict expanded, many IDPs were forced to move again. This was the case in the state of Al Jazira, where conflict ignited in December, triggering 327,000 displacements, many of which were secondary movements involving people who had already fled Khartoum. Other IDPs moved to rural areas during the year, where they required humanitarian support to establish alternative livelihoods and access services.
Most of the remaining displacements in 2023 were reported in Darfur, a region historically affected by conflict and displacement. Two decades ago, the RSF’s predecessor, the Janjaweed, conducted large-scale attacks in the region targeting civilians along ethnic lines, leading to displacement. Long-standing communal tensions reignited in the latest outbreak of violence, and some camps hosting IDPs were targeted, triggering secondary displacements. The escalating conflict also triggered more than 616,000 cross-border movements into neighbouring Chad.
The destruction of critical infrastructure concentrated in urban centres had significant repercussions on IDPs’ access to basic services and livelihood opportunities, with most left to support themselves. Between 70 and 80 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas stopped working, leaving almost two-thirds of the population without health services and hindering the response to a cholera outbreak. The rainy season between May and October added a further layer of complexity to the situation, as floods hit camps sheltering people who had already fled conflict, particularly in River Nile and South Darfur states.
Food insecurity also became a major challenge as markets, food supply chains and agriculture were disrupted, leading to severe economic decline. As of the end of the year, 37 per cent of the population was acutely food insecure. West Darfur was the state with both the highest share of its population displaced and the highest rate of acutely food insecure people in the country.
Conflict and food insecurity put a significant toll on internally displaced children. As of November, the malnutrition rate among children under five was the highest in the world, and Sudan was considered the largest child displacement situation globally, with an estimated 7,600 children forced to flee daily. With many education facilities closed, 19 million children had lost access to education and were left vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups, exploitation, and gender-based violence.
The country’s deepening humanitarian and displacement crisis was one of the world’s most neglected in 2023. Access constraints persisted, hampering humanitarians to cover the increasing needs of IDPs. As the year concluded, international mediation to bring hostilities to an end did not yield results, and violence and displacement continued unabated, leaving nearly 20 percent of Sudan’s population internally displaced.
For references and additional information, please see the full report.
