In Nairobi, Kenya, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on the ongoing crisis in Sudan, highlighting the relentless displacement of millions since the conflict began in April 2023. Marie-Hélène Verney, the UNHCR representative in Sudan, spoke at a press conference on April 10, 2026, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The conflict has entered its fourth year with fighting persisting in numerous regions, leading to new displacements and exacerbating the daily struggles of millions with no end in sight.
Since the start of the war, approximately 14 million people have been forced to flee, including 9 million internally displaced within Sudan and 4. 4 million who have crossed borders. For many, displacement has become a repetitive and exhausting cycle of seeking relative safety, only to be forced to flee again.
Currently, one in four Sudanese is displaced. The violence continues in large parts of Darfur, the states of Kordofan and Blue Nile, with increased aerial bombings and drone attacks prompting further displacement.
Human rights violations, including conflict — related sexual violence, forced recruitment, arbitrary arrests, and massacres, continue. Civilians are particularly vulnerable, with frequent reports of harassment, violence, and abductions as they seek safety. Women and girls face heightened risks of sexual violence, exploitation, and abuse, especially when crossing unstable areas. The collapse of health, law enforcement, and judicial systems has created a climate of impunity, with victims of gender-based violence facing significant barriers to reporting incidents and accessing medical, psychosocial, and legal services, reinforcing the cycle of abuse and underreporting.
Millions of children have been in a state of displacement for three years, with profound implications for their future. Most have had limited or no access to education. Over 58,000 children have arrived alone in neighboring countries, separated from their families during their flight, often injured and deeply traumatized.
Neighboring countries hosting the majority of Sudanese refugees, particularly Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan, are on the brink of collapse. The influx of refugees from Darfur to Chad continues, while South Sudan struggles to accommodate Sudanese refugees and nearly one million South Sudanese who arrived since April 2023, as its own crisis deepens.
The decline in aid and limited opportunities in all host countries force many to face impossible choices. Meanwhile, many internally displaced Sudanese are returning to regions where the fighting has subsided. Approximately 80% of those returning were alongside 890,000 refugees from neighboring countries.
Most returns are to the states of Al — Jazirah and Sennar, while nearly 1. 5 million are returning to Khartoum, where conditions are dire: infrastructure and basic services have been largely destroyed, the economy is in ruins, and social fabric is torn apart. It is crucial to assist those returning to mitigate the risks of new displacements.
Increasingly, Sudanese are embarking on the dangerous journey to Europe via Libya. Over 14,000 Sudanese arrived in Europe between 2024 and 2025, a 232% increase since the start of the conflict. These movements are not motivated by choice or convenience but are a response to the absence of peace and unmet needs in Sudan and beyond its borders. Peace, or at least better-funded humanitarian and development interventions, are urgently needed to help Sudanese live with dignity, wherever they may be.
Three years into the world’s largest displacement crisis and one of the worst protection emergencies, the situation in Sudan remains dire amidst a severe global funding shortage. Humanitarian organizations, including the UNHCR, have received only 16% of the $2. 8 billion needed for aid within Sudan and 6% of the $1.
6 billion required for regional refugee response. Without renewed attention and sustained international support, the suffering and risks for millions of displaced people and the entire region will only worsen, making the crisis even more destabilizing and costly to resolve. A burden that Sudan, like the rest of the world, cannot bear.
Source: reliefweb
Original author: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
