16 May 2023; MEMO: Over 936,000 people have left their homes in Sudan as fighting continues between rival military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
The violence has raged for four weeks, with roughly 736,200 displaced internally and 200,000 fleeing for neighbouring countries.
This is despite a series of temporary ceasefires and attempts at bringing the two parties to the negotiating table.
Among the displaced are thousands of refugees who sought a safe place to live in Sudan before the conflict erupted.
People who arrived at the Egyptian border described long queues of buses, a lack of services and the soaring cost of bus tickets.
Those who fled to Port Sudan waiting to escape across the Red Sea complained that foreign nationals were given priority and that instructions on how to leave were unclear.
Yesterday, shelling and air strikes hit Khartoum bringing the total number of dead to at least 676 and injured to 5,576 with a healthcare system close to collapse.
UNHCR: 60,000 refugees flee Sudan to Chad
The UN has said that nearly 16 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.
At the beginning of May, the UN Refugee Agency said it will need $445 million from partners to sustain the displaced population in Sudan up until October.
In Sudan and neighbouring countries there is a shortage of food, water, fuel and soaring costs of electricity.
There have been calls on the UK to do more to support the thousands of refugees fleeing the country.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ruled out creating safe and legal routes for asylum seekers from Sudan to come to the UK.
She said instead the priority was to first support British nationals and their dependents and prevent a humanitarian emergency in Sudan.
Charities and advocacy groups are calling on the UK government to show the same generosity it showed to Ukrainian refugees to Sudanese fleeing the fighting.
A petition to create a Sudanese Family Scheme visa for civilians escaping the fighting on the parliamentary website has so far reached 26,753 signatures.
Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, British citizens were able to volunteer to host Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
