Sudan’s Displacement Crisis Deepens as Over 4 Million Flee War-Torn Nation, UN Warns
By Wafric - Breaking News
WafricNews | June 3, 2025
More than four million people have now fled Sudan as the civil war enters its third year, marking what the United Nations is calling one of the worst displacement crises on the planet.
“This is a devastating milestone,” said Eujin Byun, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), at a media briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. “If the conflict continues, we expect thousands more will flee — threatening not only regional but also global stability.”
Since war broke out in April 2023 between Sudan’s military and the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF), civilians have been caught in a relentless storm of violence, hunger, and instability. What began as a power struggle between two rival generals has now morphed into a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe.
According to UN figures, in addition to those who have crossed international borders, more than 10.5 million people are displaced within Sudan itself — a staggering number that makes Sudan’s displacement crisis the largest of its kind globally today.
Neighbouring Nations Under Pressure
Sudan borders seven countries — Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, and Libya — and all have felt the ripple effects of the conflict. Chad alone has taken in over 800,000 Sudanese refugees, according to UNHCR’s Patrice Dossou Ahouansou.
But conditions remain dire.
“Only 14 percent of the funding we need has been met,” Ahouansou said. “Shelters are overcrowded, food is scarce, and protection is nearly non-existent. This is not just a refugee crisis. This is a crisis of humanity.”
Many refugees arriving in Chad, especially women and children, are fleeing targeted violence in Darfur, where reports of ethnic attacks and mass killings have drawn grim parallels to the atrocities of the early 2000s.
A Sudanese men who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, and was previously internally displaced in Sudan, walks past makeshift shelters near the border between Sudan and Chad, while taking refuge in Borota
Darfur on the Brink
In the western region of Darfur, the situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks. The RSF has surrounded the key city of el-Fasher, effectively cutting off civilians from food and aid. Hunger is escalating, and humanitarian access is being violently disrupted.
A joint aid convoy from the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF was attacked on Monday night while waiting for clearance to proceed to el-Fasher, UN officials confirmed.
“This attack happened in Al Koma, North Darfur,” said UNICEF spokesperson Eva Hinds. “Our ability to get life-saving supplies to children is under direct threat.”
A Nation Torn by Power and Betrayal
The roots of Sudan’s current chaos trace back to the fall of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. His ouster sparked hope for democratic transition — hope that was short-lived.
By 2021, a military coup shattered Sudan’s civilian-led government, leading to deep mistrust and eventual fallout between the army’s commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy-turned-rival, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, the head of the RSF.
The power-sharing agreement crumbled in April 2023, triggering a violent contest for control of Sudan’s future — and its resources.
The World Watches, the People Wait
As displacement numbers climb and the humanitarian toll grows heavier, international aid agencies are pleading for urgent intervention — not only in funding, but in diplomacy.
“This is a conflict that has the potential to destabilize an entire region,” said UNHCR’s Byun. “And yet, it’s happening in silence.”
With no meaningful peace process in sight, millions of Sudanese are left wondering how much more they’ll be forced to endure — and how long the world will look away.
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