Since the conflict began a month ago, 250,000 people have fled across Sudan's borders, and over 843,000 people have been internally displaced.
Five weeks of conflict in Sudan have resulted in more than 1 million people being displaced, including 25,000 refugees, according to the UN Agency for refugees.
Since April 15, when tensions between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the army, and Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), turned into an armed conflict, Sudan has been engulfed in violence.
In confrontations that have transformed the streets of the nation's capital, Khartoum, and other locations into war zones, hundreds of people have been killed.
A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Matthew Saltmarsh, informed reporters in Geneva on Friday that 843,000 people have been internally displaced due to the armed conflict.
According to Saltmarsh, over 250,000 more people have fled across Sudan's borders, mainly into Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Egypt has so far taken in the most Sudanese refugees, with about 110,000.
“Many of the people who have contacted us are distressed because they were subjected to violence or terrible circumstances in Sudan and had to endure difficult journeys,” said Saltmarsh. He claimed that the flow of people has been rising recently, with roughly 5,000 individuals entering Egypt daily.
According to the UN, more than $3 billion will be required this year alone to meet the urgent needs of individuals residing in Sudan and those fleeing its borders. The UN stated on Wednesday that half of the country's population needs humanitarian assistance.
After Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's longtime president, was overthrown in 2019, Al-Burhan and Hemedti held the leading seats on the ruling council. Two years later, the two generals carried out a military takeover, overturning Sudan's precarious path to democracy.
Disagreements over strategies for the RSF's integration into the army, along with the chain of command in a new political transition, led to the initiation of the conflict.
Several deaths have occurred, and the conflict has also spread to Darfur's western region. In the area, the battle between the army and RSF has taken on an intercommunal aspect, pitting Arab populations against non-Arab groups and bringing back memories of the catastrophic war that broke out in 2003.
Hemidti deposed amidst the ongoing Sudan crisis
Al-Burhan, the head of the governing Sovereignty Council, also signed a decree on Friday terminating Hemedti's position with "immediate effect."
Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan said al-Burhan's action looked to be intended to lessen the power and relevance of his adversary while reporting from Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.
“People have been asking why it took so long to remove the vice president of the Sovereignty Council from office, particularly because the army chief has already labeled the RSF as a rebel group since the conflict began,” she said.
“In light of the ongoing negotiations [in the Saudi city of Jeddah] and the ongoing combat here in Sudan, it appears that he is attempting to weaken the RSF's position and influence.”
Hemedti has been sacked from his position, Morgan continued, but he is still a member of the Sovereignty Council.
“It appears to be an effort to lessen rather than fully eradicate Hemedti's potency,” she said. Shortly after al-Burhan blocked the bank accounts of the RSF along with its related companies, a new decree was issued.
In addition, he dismissed four generals who were temporarily assigned to the paramilitary forces and replaced the governor of the national bank.
Edited by- Whitney Edna Ibe
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