Looming refugee crisis as more Sudanese flee to Uganda
Some of the refugees who fled from Khartoum in Sudan following continued fighting, receive food at Nyumanzi reception center in Adjumani District on November 11, 2023. PHOTO | MARKO TAIBOT
What you need to know:
- While confirming the new arrivals, the Office of Prime Minister Refugee Desk Officer in Pakele office, Mr Titus Jogo, said Nyumanzi reception center is currently hosting 1,300 refugees from Sudan adding that at first the Sudanese were treated as asylum seekers and subjected to interviews before being granted refugee status.
Ms Darisalam Ahmed, a mother of five is among the new arrivals from Sudan who have run away from the war-torn capital of Khartoum. The conflict started again in April.
Darisalam arrived safely at Nyumanzi reception center in Adjumani District. Speaking to the Monitor on Wednesday evening, she narrated how it took them two months of trekking before they finally reached Uganda.
“We started on foot with my four daughters and a boy to escape being killed when the war escalated in Khartoum. We could not wait any further since we saw our neighbours’ houses being destroyed by bombs,” she said.
She, however, expresses concern about poor sanitation at the reception center saying they would be happy to be taken to the settlement where they can engage in petty business for survival.
Another refugee from Sudan, Mr Babikir Mohamed, an assistant professor in Baheri University and teaches in the department of Sociology and Anthropology, said: “We searched the information on internet and received advice from our relatives in Europe that we should run to Uganda for safety because of the hospitality in taking care of refugees for many years.”
“Since we ran here, the hospitality accorded to us is good and we feel safe,” he said.
Ms Sofia Abdallah, 26, a graduate of Bachelors of Arts in English Language, said she fears for her life because she is asthmatic and her drugs need replenishment as soon as possible. rgency drug for asthma is nearly getting finished and without an alternative drug her life is on edge.
While confirming the new arrivals, the Office of Prime Minister Refugee Desk Officer in Pakele office, Mr Titus Jogo, said Nyumanzi reception center is currently hosting 1,300 refugees from Sudan adding that at first the Sudanese were treated as asylum seekers and subjected to interviews before being granted refugee status.
“The number has kept on rising steadily. We have sought the intervention of the inter-ministerial refugee’s eligibility committee who travelled to Nyumanzi reception center and interviewed all of them in order to grant them the refugee status,” Mr Jogo said.
OPM together with UNHCR are now planning to start relocating the refugees to Bweyale refugee settlement.
Response from UNHCR
A statement issued by UNHCR on November 7, that was published on its website indicates that as result of the fight in Sudan, almost six million people have been forced to flee from their homes as some have moved to neighbouring where they have settled.
The statement furthers points that within Sudan, 4.5 million people have been internally displaced since April. While 1.2 million have fled to neighbouring countries like Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic (CAR).
The Regional Refugee Response Plan for the humanitarian needs in all the neighbouring countries that are receiving Sudanese refugees is currently only 39 per cent funded.
“We are appealing for $1 billion for 64 partners in five countries. A separate appeal for the humanitarian needs inside Sudan is only a third funded. That appeal aims to reach 18.1 million people and requires $2.6 billion,” the statement reads in part.
Adjumani District is currently hosting over 218,541 refugees representing 47 per cent in 19 refugee settlements spread across the district while the population of the nationals is estimated at 242,900, according to UNHCR.
