“UNHCR, together with governments and partners, are preparing for the possibility that more than 800,000 people will flee the fighting in Sudan to neighboring countries,” Filippo Grandi wrote in a tweet, the authenticity of which was confirmed by his office.
“We hope that doesn’t happen, but if the violence doesn’t stop, we will see more people forced to flee Sudan in search of safety,” he added.
This is the first time that UNHCR has published an exact figure on the number of people likely to flee Sudan to neighboring countries. UNHCR has so far spoken of “hundreds of thousands” of people.
Most people fled to Chad or South Sudan.
The Commission’s warning comes after Khartoum witnessed airstrikes, gunfire and explosions despite a new 72-hour truce agreed by the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces, while the United Nations warned that Sudan was on the brink of a health humanitarian “catastrophe”.
Sudan has been in chaos since a bloody power struggle erupted in mid-April between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, nicknamed “Hemedti”.
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