The UN warns that the number of people who have fled war-torn Sudan could reach three million in the coming weeks. Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN's Sudan regional refugee coordinator Mamadou Dian Balde says the exodus has been driven by "the intensification" of the conflict, which broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
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00:00For the Sudanese, because of the brutality of the conflict,
00:04because of the brutality of the intensification of the conflict,
00:09in less than 18 months, we are at almost 3 million people.
00:13These are refugees, asylum seekers,
00:16nationals, South Sudanese, for example, who are distributed in their homes.
00:20So we are facing perhaps the greatest crisis of protection
00:24that we have seen in recent decades.
00:26With the arrival of 25,000 in Chad just at the beginning of October,
00:32it is much more than what we have seen since the beginning of the year.
00:36In just one week, when we see 25,000 arriving,
00:40it is quite possible that in the next two or three weeks,
00:43we will reach 3 million.
00:45And that would really be a disaster.
00:47Sudan is in the middle of Africa.
00:49There is a need for stability.
00:51And if a country or people think that it will be limited to Sudan and the region,
00:57it would be a big mistake.
00:59It would be an extremely big mistake,
01:01because people are moving.
01:03When they do not have access to these supports,
01:05there are more and more people coming to Italy,
01:08coming to Europe,
01:09there are people who are going to go to South Africa,
01:11which is also an important route,
01:12and there are people who are going to go to the Gulf countries as well.