Over 1,400 displaced in Sudan’s North Darfur in single day

About 1,430 people were displaced from five villages in Sudan's North Darfur state in a single day due to worsening insecurity, the UN migration agency said Thursday. The International Organization for Migration said around 1,430 people fled the villages of Shatmarta, Sangari, Goz Laban, Dal Barida, and Khair Wajid in the Umbro locality on Tuesday because of escalating attacks.

Cross‑border displacement

The organisation said some of the displaced moved to other areas within Umbro, while others crossed the border into neighbouring Chad. The security situation in the area “remains tense and volatile,” the IOM added, noting it continues to monitor developments closely. The latest displacement comes three days after the IOM reported that about 2,260 people had fled two villages in Umbro. According to the Emergency Lawyers group, villages in Umbro have been under attack for about a month by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with assaults including market raids, village burnings, and widespread looting.

Wider conflict

The RSF controls four of Darfur’s five states and much of the fifth, while the Sudanese army holds parts of North Darfur and most of the country’s other 18 states, including Khartoum. Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military. The war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands and displacing nearly 13 million.