Dr. Hanan Hamdan, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) representative for Egypt, said this weekend the burden of more than 1.2 million refugees from the brutal civil war in Sudan is “unsustainable.”
“We are calling on the international community to urgently support Egypt in this humanitarian effort,” Hamdan said.
“It is imperative that the responsibility for providing humanitarian and development aid is shared globally. The burden on Egypt is unsustainable and requires immediate and substantial international assistance to ensure the protection and well-being of those affected by the conflict,” he said.
According to UNHCR, the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 has received only $1.52 billion of the $2.7 billion in requested funding. Much of the funding in the plan is devoted to refugees, both internally displaced and those fleeing across Sudan’s borders.
Egypt has received the largest number of refugees from Sudan but others have fled to Chad, South Sudan, Libya, Uganda, the Central African Republic, and Ethiopia. South Sudan seceded from Sudan and was recognized as an independent state by the U.S. in 2011.
“Nineteen months into the conflict in Sudan, thousands continue to flee daily, escaping one of the most severe famine crises in decades, brutal violence, abuse, death, disrupted services, and limited access to humanitarian aid,” UNHCR reported.
Human rights groups have complained about Egypt aggressively deporting Sudanese refugees, using Egyptian border guard forces that received extensive funding from the European Union (EU). Only about half of the Sudanese living in Egypt have been properly registered as refugees with the host government.
War broke out between rival factions of the Sudanese military junta in April 2023, pitting de facto ruler Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy, and now sworn enemy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Each has said the war will continue until the other is dead.
The Sudanese civil war rapidly became one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with both sides accused of deliberately attacking, starving, and abusing civilian populations. Disease and famine are widespread. At least 20,000 people have been killed, over 10 million were displaced by the fighting, and almost half the population requires food assistance.
Both sides in the civil war have been accused of raping women and children, with significantly worse allegations pending against the RSF.
RSF commander Dagalo has accused the Egyptians of supporting Burhan’s forces with air strikes near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, an accusation denied by Cairo. The RSF has been holding seven Egyptians it describes as “mercenaries” prisoner for the past 16 months.
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctioned two generals from the RSF with travel bans and asset freezes. The sanctions, long requested by the United States but opposed by Russia, were imposed after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the RSF for attacking civilians.
