Spiralling Sudan bloodshed sparks refugee surge into Chad

Smoke billows during air strikes in central Khartoum as the Sudanese army attacks positions held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) throughout the Sudanese capital on October 12, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Updated 16 October 2024
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Spiralling Sudan bloodshed sparks refugee surge into Chad

  • Displaced people may seek safety in Gulf countries, UN coordinator warns

GENEVA: Nearly three million people have fled Sudan after 18 months of war in a still-growing exodus, the UN warned, with 25,000 fleeing to neighboring Chad in the first week of October alone.
Mamadou Dian Balde, the UN’s Sudan regional refugee coordinator, told AFP that the three-million mark will likely be crossed in the next two to three weeks.
That the figure is approaching three million is a “disaster” directly linked to the increasing brutality of the conflict, he said in an interview on Tuesday during his visit to Geneva this week.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.
The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and some 26 million people facing severe food insecurity, with famine declared in the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Some 11.3 million people have been forced to flee, including nearly 2.95 million who have fled across the country’s borders, according to the latest figures from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
In a sign of the worsening conflict in Darfur, some 25,000 people — 80 percent of whom were women and children — crossed into eastern Chad in the first week of October, a record number for a single week in 2024.
And more than 20,270 crossed into Chad in the whole of September.
Chad is host to 681,944 Sudanese refugees — more than any other country.
However, it is also one of the poorest countries on Earth and is lacking the basic services to accommodate such numbers, said Balde, while highlighting the generosity shown by Chadians toward their fleeing neighbors.
“When we see 25,000 arriving, it’s enormous,” he said.
He called for greater support from international donors.
A UN appeal for $1.51 billion to support Sudanese refugees and their hosts in the region through the end of the year remains just 27-percent funded.
“It’s not enough, because the number of refugees continues to grow,” said Balde, who also serves as the UNHCR’s East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regional director.
Balde said he expected “very unfortunately, in the coming weeks, to have many more refugees in Chad,” due to both the conflict intensifying in Darfur and the drop in water levels as the rainy season ends.

ACCESS TO AID
With the drier conditions, the UN hopes to be able to deliver more aid to Sudan — if the parties to the conflict allow it.
Several rounds of negotiation efforts have so far failed to end the fighting.
In late August, following talks outside Geneva convened by the United States, the two factions committed to ensuring safe and unhindered access for humanitarians along two key corridors.
“This has helped us save lives,” but “not all the commitments made have been respected” — and the flow of aid remains “limited,” said Balde, deploring the persistent “barriers at the administrative level.”
In Geneva for the UNHCR’s annual executive committee meeting, he chaired a discussion on Sudan, during which he asked for support to help Sudanese refugees get into the jobs market and thereby reducing their reliance on humanitarian assistance.
“We are asking development actors to mobilize to complement” such aid, he explained, while stressing the need for peace in Sudan.
Balde warned it would be “a big mistake” to think the flow of displaced people will be limited to Sudan and the wider region.
“There are more and more who are coming toward Italy, Europe and southern Africa,” and “there are some who will go toward the Gulf countries too,” he said.


US ‘deeply concerned’ over activists’ treatment in Tanzania

Updated 33 min 9 sec ago
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US ‘deeply concerned’ over activists’ treatment in Tanzania

  • Prominent East African activists are facing detention and torture following government crackdown on dissent in Uganda and Tanzania.
  • The United States voiced its concern over the mistreatment of several activists and called for an investigation into human rights abuses.

NAIROBI: The United States expressed concern Saturday over the “mistreatment” of two east African activists in Tanzania, days after they were detained and reportedly tortured.
Prominent campaigners Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agather Atuhaire of Uganda traveled to Tanzania this week in solidarity with detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu ahead of his court hearing on charges of treason, which carries a potential death penalty.
But they themselves were detained before being deported and then found abandoned near the Tanzanian border.
Mwangi and rights groups allege that both were tortured while held “incommunicado” for days.
The US Bureau of African Affairs said on X it was “deeply concerned by reports of the mistreatment” of Atuhaire and Mwangi while in Tanzania.
“We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses,” it said, urging “all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture.”
Atuhaire received in 2023 the EU Human Rights Defender Award for her work in Uganda and was honored last year with the International Women of Courage Award by former US First Lady Jill Biden.
Mwangi is a longtime critic of the Kenyan government, frequently denouncing instances of alleged injustice and rights abuses.
Human rights groups say Tanzania and neighboring Uganda have accelerated crackdowns on opponents and dissidents as they prepare for presidential elections in the next seven months.
But Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has slammed what she called interference in the country’s affairs and had urged security services “not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here.”


India’s monsoon rains arrive eight days early, says weather bureau

Updated 24 May 2025
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India’s monsoon rains arrive eight days early, says weather bureau

  • Summer rains, critical for economic growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, usually begin to lash Kerala around June 1

MUMBAI: Monsoon rains hit the coast of India’s southernmost state of Kerala on Saturday, eight days earlier than usual, the weather office said, offering respite from a grueling heat wave while boosting prospects for bumper harvests.

Summer rains, critical for economic growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, usually begin to lash Kerala around June 1 before spreading nationwide by mid-July, allowing farmers to plant crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane.


Ukraine says downed 6 missiles, 245 drones overnight

Updated 24 May 2025
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Ukraine says downed 6 missiles, 245 drones overnight

KYIV: Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that it had downed six ballistic missiles and 245 drones from a massive Russian barrage overnight that was mainly targeted at the capital Kyiv.
“Air defense shot down 6 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles (Kyiv) and neutralized 245 enemy Shahed-type UAVs,” the air force said in a statement.


Kyiv comes under large-scale Russian drone and missile attack with explosions heard throughout city

Updated 25 min 5 sec ago
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Kyiv comes under large-scale Russian drone and missile attack with explosions heard throughout city

  • Russian overnight attacks have Kyiv residents fleeing to underground shelters in the capital.
  • The attacks come after a prisoner swap exchange agreed by both Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye last week.

KYIV: Ukraine’s capital came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack early Saturday with explosions and machine gun fire heard throughout the city, forcing many Kyiv residents to take shelter in underground subway stations.
The nighttime Russian attack came hours after Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was agreed on by the two sides at a meeting in Istanbul last week. The agreement was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.
The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least four city districts of the Ukrainian capital early Saturday, acting head of Kyiv military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram. According to Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.
Yurii Bondarchuk, a local resident, said the air raid siren “started as usual, then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do.”
Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.
“The balcony is totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors,” he said, describing the damage to his apartment as he stood in the dark in the middle of the night. He smoked a cigarette to calm his nerves while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours overnight, warning of incoming missiles and drones.
Prior to the attack, city mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned Kyiv residents of more than 20 Russian strike drones heading toward Kyiv. As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon district of Kyiv. Emergency services were headed to the site, Klitschko said.
The prisoner swap Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine.
The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
As the freed men entered the medical facility Friday, people holding signs and photos of their relatives shouted names or brigade numbers, seeking any news of a loved one.
“Vanya!” cried Nataliia Mosych, among the gathered relatives, “My husband!”
The exchange, the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn’t herald any halt in fighting.
Battles continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.
After the May 16 Istanbul meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks to end the fighting as diplomatic maneuvering continued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday night that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a “sustainable, long-term, comprehensive” peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.
The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between May 20 and May 23.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 175 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as a ballistic missile since late Thursday.


Hong Kong to open universities to more foreign students after US ban

Updated 18 min 51 sec ago
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Hong Kong to open universities to more foreign students after US ban

  • Trump's administration moves to ban foreign students from enrolling into Harvard university.
  • Hong Kong local universities are now relaxing their measures in a bid to attract more foreign students after Washington's decision.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong has said it will open its universities to more international students, highlighting those affected by the US government’s move this week to block Harvard from enrolling foreign nationals.
The sharp escalation in US President Donald Trump’s longstanding feud with the prestigious university came as tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing over trade and other issues.
The Trump administration’s decision on Thursday — which was temporarily halted by a US judge after Harvard sued — has thrown the future of thousands of foreign students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.
On Friday, Hong Kong Education Secretary Christine Choi called on universities in the Chinese city to welcome “outstanding students from all over the world.”
“For international students affected by the United States’ student admission policy, the Education Bureau (EDB) has appealed to all universities in Hong Kong to provide facilitation measures for eligible students,” Choi said in a statement, noting the ban on Harvard’s admission of international students.
She said local universities were making use of government measures, including relaxing the maximum limits on foreign students to attract more to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Friday invited international students enrolled at Harvard, as well as anyone with offers to attend the elite school, to continue their studies at HKUST.
“HKUST is extending this opportunity to ensure talented students can pursue their educational goals without disruption,” it said in a statement.
The university “will provide unconditional offers, streamlined admission procedures, and academic support to facilitate a seamless transition for interested students,” it added.
Harvard is ranked number one in US News and World Report’s most recent list of the world’s top universities, while HKUST is 105 out of more than 2,000 ranked.
President Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting his administration’s push for oversight on admissions and hiring amid his claims the school is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.
A US judge on Friday halted the administration’s move to prevent Harvard from admitting foreign students after the university sued, calling the government’s action unlawful.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that the administration’s decision would hold Harvard “accountable for fostering violence, anti-Semitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.”
Beijing condemned the “politicization of educational cooperation,” adding that the move by Washington would “only harm the image and international standing of the United States.”
Around 1,300 Chinese students are enrolled at Harvard, around a fifth of its international student body, according to university data.
Hundreds of thousands more attend other US colleges and universities, long viewed by many in China as beacons of academic freedom and rigour.