JUBA, South Sudan
Sudan’s sovereign council announced on Thursday that it will reopen the Adre border crossing for three months to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected by the ongoing 15-month civil war. The decision comes after nearly six months during which no humanitarian aid reached the affected populations.
The majority of Sudanese people who crossed to the neighboring countries are now facing many challenges, including a lack of food and access to healthcare.
Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council said in a statement that it has permitted the use of the Adre border crossing for three months to facilitate aid delivery to people.
In February, the government halted aid deliveries through the border crossing, claiming it was being used by rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to transport weapons.
More than 10 million people have been internally displaced in war-torn Sudan, according to the latest figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Since the Sudanese army and RSF went to war in April 2023, 7.26 million people have fled their homes, adding to the 2.83 million who had already been displaced by previous conflicts.
The UN has repeatedly warned Sudan that it is facing the world’s worst displacement crisis, as the war shows no signs of ending and the threat of famine looms.
Over a quarter of Sudan’s 48 million people have been forced to flee their homes, with more than 2 million crossing international borders.
Around 3.7 million people, or more than one-third of all those displaced, have fled the devastated capital Khartoum alone.
The ongoing conflict has forced over 800,000 people into neighboring South Sudan since April 2023, the country’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Albino Akol Atak confirmed.
He said that the escalation in fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation, which has already been compounded by climate change-related impacts such as delayed rains and flooding.
“This year in 2024 in South Sudan, we have had a lot of crises that have made our people vulnerable, one of them is climate change’s impact on our people that is causing floods and drought,” Akol said during the handover ceremony of relief food to the World Food Programme donated by the government of Japan in Juba on Wednesday.
“The other is the conflict in Sudan that has forced more than 800,000 people to flee to South Sudan, most of them are South Sudanese people, all these people are coming lacking everything, including food,” he said.
He noted that most of the arrivals at some of the transit centers are stranded as they arrive without anything.
The South Sudan economy has been weakened due to the conflict in Sudan, Akol said, adding that refugees and returnees, mostly South Sudanese, are putting a strain on the government and host communities’ resources.
