UN OCHA: More than 400,000 newly displaced in Sudan this year

In its Humanitarian Snapshot of 30 November, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan presents the latest figures about the state of affairs regarding those in the country who need assistance.

The 2015 Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) targets assistance to an estimated 5.4 million of the most vulnerable people, including 1.2 million of the most severely malnourished children younger than five. Their vulnerability is primarily driven by conflict-induced displacement, and chronic food insecurity and malnutrition, OCHA states.

At the end of 2014, some 3.1 million people in Sudan were displaced; the majority in Darfur. A further 0.7 million people were refugees from neighbouring countries or South Sudanese who are unable to return to their country.

Sudan has seen new emergencies this year that have generated further displacement. Since January, up to 233,000 people in Darfur have been forced to flee their homes because of armed conflicts.

About 109,000 of these newly displaced have received humanitarian assistance. 58,000 live in areas, mainly in Darfur’s Jebel Marra, to which relief organisations have limited or no access. Approximately 66,000 people displaced this year have returned to their areas of origin.

In the government-controlled areas of South Kordofan, an estimated 52,000 people were displaced since January. 21,000 of them have returned.

An estimated 60,000 people had to flee their homes In the government-controlled areas of Blue Nile state since the beginning of this year. Approximately 24,000 of them were relocated, 26,000 returned home, and about 10,000 people in the state remain displaced.

As of 31 October, 370,632 refugees and asylum seekers, including South Sudanese new arrivals, were recorded in Sudan, the snapshot reads.