The United Nations (UN) refugee agency on Friday said some 200,000 people have now fled from Sudan to neighboring countries to escape fighting that erupted last month, reported Alarabiya News.
Addressing reporters in Geneva, UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado said as the fighting in Sudan continues for a fourth week, almost 200,000 refugees and returnees have been forced to flee the country.
Earlier this week, the UN migration agency said more than 700,000 people have also been displaced within Sudan by the fighting that has killed more than 750 people and injured 5,000 others.
Sarrado warned that providing humanitarian response has become quite challenging as refugees are arriving in remote border areas which are already deprived of basic services and infrastructure.
She said the coming rainy season will make it even harder for humanitarian agencies to provide assistance to the needy ones as many roads will become impassable.
The UN refugee agency spokeswoman said some 30,000 refugees had arrived in neighboring Chad in the last few days and that brings the total number who have arrived from Sudan in recent weeks to 60,000.
She added that around 90 percent of refugees crossing neighboring countries are children and women, including many pregnant women.
According to UNHCR, 20 percent of children aged between six months and five years had been found to be acutely malnourished.
Sarrado said the UN refugee agency welcomed the decision taken by Sudan’s warring military factions to sign a commitment to respect humanitarian principles late on Thursday.
Both sides promised in talks in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah late Thursday to protect civilians, but nothing looked set to change immediately.
She said the UN body hopes the commitment will allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services, like health care, water, and electricity in the conflict-affected areas.
