Renewed clashes exacerbate displacement crisis in Sudan

Moatinoon
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Monday that more than 5,000 people have been displaced from 10 villages in the Serba locality of West Darfur State, western Sudan, due to escalating security tensions and renewed clashes in the Bir Seleiba area.

In a statement, the IOM said that its Displacement Monitoring Initiative (DMI) teams estimated that 5,135 people were displaced from the 10 villages on August 8, noting that the majority of affected families crossed the border into Chad.

This new wave of displacement follows a similar one in the region on August 4. On Saturday, the governor of Darfur, Minni Arko Minawi, announced that the Sudanese army had repelled a large-scale attack launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Bir Seleiba.

Last Thursday, the IOM announced the displacement of approximately 6,600 people from 11 villages in Serba due to escalating clashes and a deteriorating security situation over the preceding two days.

Bir Saliba is located north of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, and occupies a strategic position on the roads leading to the city. This has made it the scene of frequent clashes between the army and its allies on one side, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the other.

The RSF controls large swathes of the five Darfur states, with the exception of areas in North Darfur controlled by the army and its allied armed groups. The army controls most of the other states.

These waves of displacement come amidst the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in mid-April 2023. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and displaced some 13 million people both within Sudan and abroad, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region.