As Sudan civil war displacement nears 13m, UN Refugee Agency calls for ceasefire and funding boost

Sudan's civil war has resulted in
Sudan's civil war has resulted in "13 million displaced people and refugees", including many women who reported being raped and children, a regional UNHCR official said Monday. (AFP)
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Updated 14 April 2025
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As Sudan civil war displacement nears 13m, UN Refugee Agency calls for ceasefire and funding boost

As Sudan civil war displacement nears 13m, UN Refugee Agency calls for ceasefire and funding boost
  • After 2 years of conflict it marks a ‘very, very sad milestone’ in the world’s largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis, says agency’s regional chief
  • He describes recent atrocities in Darfur as ‘unacceptable events … another example of the massive violations of human rights happening in Sudan’

NEW YORK CITY: Nearly two years into the civil war in Sudan, the humanitarian crisis continues to spiral, with almost 13 million people now forcibly displaced and human rights violations escalating, the UN Refugee Agency warned on Monday.

“This is a very, very sad milestone,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, the agency’s regional director for East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes.

Speaking to the press from Nairobi, he said that “close to 9 million Sudanese are internally displaced, and nearly 4 million have fled to neighboring countries,” making it the largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis in the world.

Balde also highlighted recent atrocities at the Zamzam displacement site, and in Abu Shouk near the town of El Fasher in Darfur, describing them as “just unacceptable events … another example of the massive violations of human rights happening in Sudan.”

The country has been locked in conflict since April 15, 2023, amid a power struggle between the Sudanese army and rival militia the Rapid Support Forces.

Scores of civilians were killed on Friday and Saturday in attacks by the RSF on El Fasher, Zamzam, Abu Shouk and other nearby locations in North Darfur State where displaced people were sheltering.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that preliminary figures put civilian deaths at 300, including 10 humanitarian workers from the nongovernmental organization Relief International, who were killed while operating one of the last functioning health centers in the Zamzam camp.

The El Fasher area has been under siege for more than a year, cutting hundreds of thousands of people off from lifesaving humanitarian aid. Famine conditions have been identified in Zamzam and two other nearby displacement camps, as well as 10 other areas in Sudan. A further 17 are at risk of famine as soon as next month.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the perpetrators of the latest attacks to be brought to justice. As the second anniversary of the conflict approaches, he urged all parties to “immediately cease the fighting and take steps towards an inclusive political process to put Sudan on a path towards peace and stability.”

More than two-thirds of Sudan’s population
, 30.4 million people, urgently require humanitarian aid, with millions of them at risk of famine. About 
80 percent of hospitals in conflict zones are no longer functioning, leaving millions without access to essential medical care amid a surge in outbreaks of disease.


Tens of thousands of Sudanese have been killed amid indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including in Darfur where ethnic violence has been constantly escalating.

Guterres renewed his call for the international community to unite in its efforts to bring an end to this “appalling conflict.”

Balde said the spillover from the war stretches far beyond Sudan’s borders and now affects countries that were not initially part of the regional refugee response, such as Uganda and Libya.

“This is not just a regional issue anymore,” he added. “Sudan is at the center of the African continent, and as this crisis continues more people are on the move, toward Southern Africa, the Gulf and Europe.”

The UN Refugee Agency’s $1.8 billion Regional Refugee Response Plan, which aims to support 4.9 million refugees and their host communities, is only 10 percent funded, a level Balde lamented as being “extremely, extremely low.”

He continued: “If you are in the fourth, soon fifth, month of the year and only funded at 10 percent, the level of support for food, water, shelter and education is going to be minimal.

“Communities that don’t have enough have shared what they have. That’s the true spirit of solidarity but they cannot do it alone.”

He urged donors to step up during a conference in London on Tuesday at which 20 foreign ministers will discuss the Sudan crisis.

“One expected outcome is greater support for both the refugees and the host governments,” Balde said. “Refugees are in need of urgent, life-saving support: food, health, shelter, protection services.”

In addition to financial aid, Balde emphasized the need for a ceasefire: “The people I see at the borders with Chad or South Sudan tell us one thing: they want normalcy so they can return home and take care of themselves.”

Neighboring South Sudan, which was already struggling with its own internal tensions, has received more than 1 million people from Sudan, adding to the burdens it faces as the country with the second-largest number of internally displaced persons and refugees after Sudan.

“It’s a very worrying situation,” said Balde, who noted that contingency plans are in place amid concerns about the renewed conflict in South Sudan.

He also addressed concerns surrounding the registration of refugees, which is a key step toward possible resettlement. He noted that the UN Refugee Agency supports national governments in this process but warned: “With funding going down, it’s going to be extremely difficult. That’s not the spirit of the Refugee Convention.”

He concluded with a stark reminder: “One in three Sudanese is displaced. One in six internally displaced persons globally is Sudanese. One in 10 refugees worldwide is from Sudan. That’s how devastating this crisis has been in just two years.”


Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector

Updated 6 sec ago
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Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector

Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector
“We can easily say that there is a softening in CAATSA,,” he told reporters
The move soured ties between the two NATO member countries

ISTANBUL: Turkiye has seen an easing of US sanctions on its defense sector since Donald Trump became president, with steps toward ending the measure advancing quickly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday.

“We can easily say that there is a softening in CAATSA,,” he told reporters while returning from a European summit, referring to US sanctions legislation.

In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara over its purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system under a 2017 law known as CAATSA, which aims to limit Russia’s military influence.

The move soured ties between the two NATO member countries.

It also booted Turkiye out of its F-35 program, with Washington saying the presence of the S-400 would allow the Russians to collect information on the stealth jet’s capabilities.

Erdogan said Turkiye had raised the sanctions issue with Trump and his newly-appointed envoy to Ankara, Tom Barrack

“With my friend Trump taking office, we have achieved a more open, more constructive and more sincere communication on these issues,” Erdogan added, saying Turkiye valued “every positive step in this direction.”

“I believe we will overcome the CAATSA process much faster. As two great NATO allies, there should be no restrictions or obstacles in the field of defense between us,” he said.

Turkiye’s partnership with the United States was “of vital importance for the establishment of stability in our region and the world” he said.

In March, Erdogan spoke to Trump about the need to finalize a deal to let Turkiye buy US F-16 fighter planes and be readmitted to the development program for F-35 warplanes.

Turkiye has been seeking to modernize its airforce, and has been seeking to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons which are built by a four-nation consortium grouping Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy.

Israel says killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon

Israel says killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon
Updated 26 min 19 sec ago
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Israel says killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon

Israel says killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon
  • One person was killed in an Israeli “drone strike” on a vehicle in south Lebanon’s Tyre district
  • The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “struck and eliminated... a commander“

BEIRUT: Israel’s military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander on Saturday in south Lebanon, where authorities reported one dead in the fourth Israeli strike within days despite a November ceasefire.

Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli “drone strike” on a vehicle in south Lebanon’s Tyre district.

An AFP correspondent saw the charred wreckage of a vehicle in Abu Al-Aswad, an area around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “struck and eliminated... a commander” involved in “the re-establishment of Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in south Lebanon.

Israel has continued to launch strikes on its neighbor despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah militants including two months of full-blown war.

The Israeli military said that “the rebuilding of terrorist infrastructure and related activity constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Earlier this week, the Israeli military said three separate strikes in south Lebanon targeted Hezbollah operatives.

Under the ceasefire, the Iran-backed Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.

Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic.”

The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

At an Arab summit in Baghdad on Saturday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced “daily Israeli violations” of Lebanese sovereignty and “the ongoing Israeli occupation of positions” in the south.

He said Lebanon was working to “fully implement” a United Nations Security Council resolution that formed the basis of the ceasefire.

The resolution says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

Salam again urged international pressure “to oblige Israel to stop its attacks and immediately and fully withdraw from all Lebanese territory.”


Flights resume at the rebel-held airport in Yemen’s capital, more than a week after Israeli strikes

Flights resume at the rebel-held airport in Yemen’s capital, more than a week after Israeli strikes
Updated 17 May 2025
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Flights resume at the rebel-held airport in Yemen’s capital, more than a week after Israeli strikes

Flights resume at the rebel-held airport in Yemen’s capital, more than a week after Israeli strikes

CAIRO: Flights resumed on Saturday to Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, held by the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, more than a week after massive Israeli airstrikes disabled the airport.
The Israeli strikes on May 6 — a rare daytime attack — destroyed the airport’s terminal and left craters on its runway, according to Khaled Al-Shaif, the head of the airport. At least six passenger planes were hit, including three belonging to the national carrier, Yemen Airway or Yemenia, he said.
On Saturday, a flight operated by Yemenia landed at the Sanaa International Airport with 136 passengers on board, according to the Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news channel.
The flight had departed from Jordan’s capital, Amman, earlier in the day, the airliner said. Three more flights were scheduled on Saturday between Sanaa and Amman.
The Israeli offensive was in response to a Houthi ballistic missile that hit the grounds of Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, which briefly halted flights and commuter traffic.
The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout Israel’s war with the militant Hamas group in Gaza, in solidarity with Palestinians there, while also targeting commercial and naval vessels on the Red Sea. The attacks have raised the Houthis’ profile at home and internationally as the last member of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.
Since mid-March, the US military under President Donald Trump launched an intensified campaign of daily airstrikes targeting the Houthis. The two sides reached a deal to halt the US campaign in return for the Houthis halting their attacks on shipping.
However, the US-Houthis deal did not stop the rebels’ missile and drone attacks on Israel, which in turn responded with attacks on Yemen’s Red Sea ports held by the Houthis.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it struck the Hodeida and Salif ports, claiming that the Houthis were using the two facilities to transfer weapons. The Houthi-run health ministry said at least one person was killed and 11 others were wounded in Friday’s airstrikes.


Turkiye evacuates 82 nationals from Libya after unrest

Turkiye evacuates 82 nationals from Libya after unrest
Updated 17 May 2025
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Turkiye evacuates 82 nationals from Libya after unrest

Turkiye evacuates 82 nationals from Libya after unrest

ISTANBUL: Turkiye evacuated 82 of its nationals from the Libyan capital Tripoli after several days of fatal clashes between armed groups, foreign ministry sources said late Friday.
“Eighty-two citizens who wanted to return to Turkiye were assisted in their departure from Libya and allowed to return home,” the source said, referring to “the conflict and insecurity” that has gripped the North African nation in recent days.
The move came a day after the Turkish embassy said in a post on Facebook that it was preparing to evacuate its nationals via a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul from the Libyan port city of Misrata, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Tripoli. It said it would organize bus transport from the capital.
The ministry did not give details about those who returned home and didn’t say whether more flights were planned.
Violence flared in the Libyan capital late on Monday between loyalist forces and powerful armed groups that the government is trying to dismantle.
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday said “at least eight civilians” were killed in heavy clashes, which took place over the following days, bringing air traffic to an almost total standstill.
Although relative calm returned to Tripoli earlier on Friday, the situation remained highly volatile.
Turkiye, which backs the UN-recognized government in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, called on Wednesday for a truce and said it was “closely monitoring” the situation.
Libya has struggled to recover from years of unrest since the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi, with the country split between Dbeibah’s government in the west and a rival authority backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east.


Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report
Updated 17 May 2025
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Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited all leaders and the secretary general of the Arab League for the first Russia-Arab summit on October 15, Russia's news agencies reported on Saturday, citing a statement from the Kremlin.
"I am confident that this meeting will contribute to the further strengthening of mutually beneficial, multifaceted cooperation between our countries and will help in finding ways to ensure peace, security, and stability in the Middle East and North Africa," Interfax agency cited Putin as saying in the statement.
The Arab League, a regional organisation of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa, has 22 member states who have pledged, among others, to cooperate on political, economic and military affairs in the region.
The reports came following a four-day trip by U.S. President Donald Trump through the Gulf region this week, during which Washington said it had secured several deals, including a $600 billion commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S., $142 billion in arms sales to the kingdom, and an AI partnership with the United Arab Emirates.