NEW YORK – The number of people forced from their homes by fighting in Sudan more than doubled in the past week to more than 700,000, a United Nations spokesman said yesterday.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said the International Organisation for Migration reported the latest figure, compared to the 340,000 people listed a week ago on May 2. They were displaced by the most recent fighting that began on April 15. Before the fighting erupted, 3.7 million people had been internally displaced in Sudan, mainly in the western Darfur region, reported Xinhua.
Haq said the World Food Programme (WFP) reported it needs nearly 13,000 tonnes of food to reach some 384,000 people across the states of Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala, and White Nile.
WFP said it currently has about 8,000 tonnes of food in Port Sudan to distribute to those in need. Additionally, two ships are to dock within days at the same port with WFP food and supplies to treat moderate acute malnutrition.
The agency said that since restarting food distributions last week, it reached more than 35,500 people across Gedaref and Kassala, and distribution is underway in White Nile. – Bernama, May 10, 2023
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