The United Nations warned on Friday of the “appallingly” large number of child victims of the war in Sudan, citing local reports that seven of them are being killed or injured every hour in the conflict which is tearing the country apart.
“As we feared and expected, the situation in Sudan has become fatal to an appallingly large number of children,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters. in Geneva.
According to him, the agency received information from health facilities in Khartoum and the Darfur region that 190 children were killed and 1,700 others injured in the first eleven days of the conflict, which began on April 15. These estimates have not yet been independently verified by the UN.
This figure, however, would only identify children who have been cared for in one of these establishments, underlined the spokesperson, adding: “The reality could be much more serious”.
Since April 15, several hundred people have been killed, mainly in Khartoum and Darfur, in the conflict between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the paramilitary boss of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). , Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The successive truces between the two camps were not respected and the bombings and exchanges of fire continued to shake the capital Khartoum on Friday for the 21st consecutive day.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also warned of the situation, calling on States to welcome Sudanese who have fled the fighting and not to forcibly return them to their country.
“UNHCR calls on all countries to ensure civilians fleeing Sudan unrestricted access to their territory,” UNHCR chief Elizabeth Tan told reporters.
UNHCR expects 860,000 people to leave Sudan for neighboring countries, adding to the 113,000 who have already fled the fighting.
In the context, Elizabeth Tan, in charge of international protection at the UNHCR, calls on all countries to “suspend any negative decision concerning asylum applications filed by Sudanese or stateless persons who lived in the country”.
She also urged to “suspend all forced deportations to Sudan, including of people whose asylum applications have already been rejected”.