Sudan: Clashes between SAF and RSF - Flash Update No. 11 (10 May 2023) [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have lasted for 26 consecutive days.

• The number of people displaced inside Sudan has more than doubled since last week, with more than 730,000 people currently internally displaced due to the fighting.

• Humanitarian actors continue to work on expanding humanitarian operations and reaching those most in need.

• However, recent days have seen further looting and attacks against humanitarian premises, significantly hampering the response.

• Additional funding is urgently needed.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have continued for 26 consecutive days, especially in and around Khartoum, as of 10 May. At least 604 people have been killed and over 5,100 injured since the fighting began, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) as of 9 May. Out of these, 199 deaths and 3,157 injuries were in Khartoum. In addition, in West Darfur at least 450 people died during recent violent clashes in Ag Geneina and surrounding areas, according to FMoH.

The number of people displaced inside Sudan has more than doubled in a week, from 334,000 people on 1 May to about 736,000 people on 9 May, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Displaced people have been recorded in 15 out of the country’s 18 states. The states hosting the highest number of displaced people are White Nile (which hosts 25.6 per cent of all displaced people), West Darfur (21.2 per cent) and Northern (14.4 per cent). The highest number of displaced people have come from Khartoum (502,200 people, approximately 68.2 per cent of the total internally displaced), followed by West Darfur (21.8 per cent of displaced people) and South Darfur (6 per cent). In addition, more than 150,000 people have moved from Sudan to neighboring Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Egypt and Ethiopia, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Over 80,100 of the recently displaced people in Sudan are women and girls of reproductive age (15-49 years old), among whom nearly 8,000 women are pregnant and in need of essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care services, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Around 880 pregnant women among the newly displaced are expected to give birth in the next month. Women and girls who are on the move, displaced in temporary shelters and deprived of basic needs face an increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).

Healthcare facilities continue to be attacked and occupied by parties to the conflict. In Khartoum, fewer than one-fifth of health facilities remain fully functional, and 60 per cent are not functioning at all, according to WHO. A maternity hospital was attacked in Khartoum on 4 May, according to UNFPA. Following the initial alarm over the occupation of the National Public Health Laboratory, WHO conducted a follow up in-depth risk assessment and noted that the laboratory cannot perform its vital role in diagnosing disease because of lack of staff, the occupation of the facility and the lack of electricity to run its equipment. In West Darfur’s Ag Geneina town, the building of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) was reportedly burned down on 6 May. Ag Geneina Teaching Hospital, the major referral hospital in the state, has been directly affected by fighting and parts of the hospital have been looted, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Shortages of food, water, fuel and cash in many parts of the country continue. In eastern Sudan—many parts of which usually rely on essential supplies from Khartoum, which has become impossible with the ongoing crisis—the prices of goods have increased almost four-fold compared to prior 15 April, according to humanitarian partners on the ground. In Blue Nile, markets in Ed Damazine are reportedly open but prices of the communities are increasing. Many banks across the country, especially in areas affected by conflict, remain closed.