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20 July 2024 (Port Sudan) – Children in Sudan make up around 51% of those displaced, making the war-torn country one of the world’s largest child displacement crises, the United Nations refugee agency says.
The report shows that as of mid-June 2024, more than 8.6 million people have been forcibly displaced, including 1.9 million who have fled to Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda.
Equally worrying is that children face a wide range of protection risks at every stage of displacement – before, during and after displacement.
These risks include serious child rights violations, restricted access to safety, separation from families, gender-based violence, psychosocial distress, immigration detention, trafficking and limited access to protection services, including while en route to safety.
Displaced parents, older siblings and families face multiple protection risks that impact children’s well-being, including lack of protection and basic services, abuse, harassment and exploitation.
Increasing incidents of child trafficking were reported in Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan, particularly involving adolescents aged 19 to 27 from Khartoum, West and Central Darfur, Blue Nile and White Nile States.
Most of these flights go to Gulf countries, Europe and other destinations.
In South Sudan, 56% of Sudanese refugees are under the age of 18. Many of them have witnessed or experienced violence, including attacks and sexual assaults.
In addition, many children reportedly travel or arrive at border checkpoints unaccompanied and are often weak and malnourished.
In Uganda, 43% of the 40,268 people registered by the government were children, of whom 37% were vulnerable.
Many of these children reportedly witnessed and experienced violence, including bombings, looting and the occupation of homes, hospitals, playgrounds and schools.
As of 27 June 2024, UNHCR Egypt has provided registration appointments to 631,424 people forced to flee Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan, of whom 325,140 (51%) have been fully registered.
UNHCR and its partners have reportedly identified 18,196 children at risk, including 7,485 unaccompanied and separated children.
Meanwhile, in Chad, the number of new refugees from Sudan has tripled since the beginning of the year as ethnic conflict intensifies, with children making up 54 per cent of the total registered refugees.
UNHCR, in collaboration with the Government of Chad, has reportedly identified more than 10,479 children at risk, including 3,154 unaccompanied and separated children.
Although the government is currently relocating refugees from the border to camps, access to the camps and provision of services such as child protection remains a challenge.
With the dry season approaching, armed group activities and associated protection risks remain widespread and lack of access to newly arrived Sudanese refugees, particularly in the south-east, remains a major challenge for humanitarian actors.
Unless children receive the urgent support they need, the horrors of conflicts such as Sudan will undoubtedly have a harmful and lasting impact on children’s mental health.
(English stone)
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