Large number of Sudanese fleeing to Chad

There has been a sharp increase in the number of people fleeing from Sudan to Chad to escape fighting and dire conditions, and aid funding is failing to keep up with needs, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. More than 400 people a day have been crossing into eastern Chad over the past week, a 20-fold increase from the numbers seen in recent months, reports Polity. They were fleeing Sudan's Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile regions – which have all been hit by clashes between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a more than three-year-old civil war. The civil war has devastated wide swathes of Sudan, displacing up to 14m people, ruining harvests and decimating the economy, according to UN estimates. Drought and other harsh conditions were also forcing people to move, UNHCR said. Almost 1m refugees have crossed into Chad since the conflict began, more than 55 000 so far this year, according to UNHCR data.

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