Fighting in Sudan has displaced more than 700,000 people in the country since mid-April, according to the UN

Fighting in Sudan has displaced more than 700,000 people in the country since mid-April, the UN reported on Tuesday (May 9th). “It’s more than double the number” counted the previous week, said a spokesman for the United Nations agency for migration (IOM). At the beginning of May, the UN had also estimated that the violence had left 117,000 refugees in other countries since the start of the conflict on 15 April.

Clashes between the regular army and paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces are concentrated in the capital, Khartoum, as well as in the Darfur region. In these two areas, almost no hospitals are functioning and most of the humanitarian reserves have been bombed or looted. The numerous truces announced have hardly been respected and the NGO Acled has already counted more than 750 dead in the country. The Sudanese authorities also report at least 5,000 injuries.

Negotiations have started in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but so far have not led to any “major progress”, according to a Saudi diplomat. These discussions are not about a political resolution to the conflict: they should only allow agreement on safe corridors for humanitarian aid arriving on the east coast, in order to feed and care for the civilians trapped in Khartoum and Darfur.