Sudan struggles with Ethiopia refugee influx
KHARTOUM: As Ethiopia’s conflict rages on, tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border into one of the most impoverished regions of Sudan, which itself is one of the world’s poorest countries.
Khartoum has done its best to shelter them at a time it is seeking to transition to a stable democratic era while batling economic crisis and poverty deepened by the pandemic.
Analysts and international aid agencies warn that Sudan now urgently needs assistance in order to be able to help those desperately fleeing Ethiopia.
“A larger influx would have very dangerous economic repercussions for Sudan,” said Sudanese economist Mohamed el-nayer.
“We need the international community to urgently intervene economically and help provide food, shelter and medicines to those refugees. If not, Sudan’s economy will be over-burdened.”
More than 40,000 refugees have crossed from Ethiopia into Sudan since the conflict broke out on Nov.4 between federal forces and leaders of Tigray’s ruling party. The refugees have since setled in vast and unhygenic desert camps in remote eastern Sudan that still lack proper provision of water, food and sanitary facilities.
“The numbers are way above the state’s capabilities,” Gedaref state governor Soliman Ali told AFP. “And a rise in numbers will put further pressure not only on the state but all of Sudan.
“Since the beginning of the crisis, the response of aid groups has been weak, and not on par with the magnitude of the crisis at hand.”
Inhabitants of Hamdayit, a border town in Kassala state, which has hosted more than 28,000 refugees, say the surging demand from the influx has rapidly driven up market prices.
“We already suffer scarcity of resources like flour, fuel and other commodities,” said Gedaref governor Ali. “But now, with the ongoing refugee crisis, Gedaref’s share of these goods is further strained.”
The crisis comes with Sudan in the middle of a fragile transition since the April 2019 ouster of veteran strongman Omar al-bashir, ater unprecedented mass protests against his rule.
A joint civilian-military government has tried to rebuild the economy, which has been decimated by decades of US sanctions, government mismanagement and armed conflicts under Bashir.
Some 65 per cent of Sudan’s nearly 42 million people live below the poverty line, according to government figures.