Ferry carrying refugees sinks in Sudan

Scores of refugees are feared drowned after a ferry carrying people fleeing the war in Sudan sank in the Blue Nile in the country’s southeastern Sennar State yesterday evening, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier, the United Nations confirmed that more than 136,000 people have fled Sennar State since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began a series of attacks on towns there. This marks the latest wave of displacement caused by the ongoing war in Sudan, which began in April last year.

These individuals join nearly ten million others who have been displaced since the conflict erupted between the RSF and the Sudanese army. The war has led to accusations of “ethnic cleansing” and warnings of famine, particularly in areas controlled by the RSF.

On 24 June, the RSF launched a campaign to seize the commercial hub of Sennar City. However, they quickly shifted their focus to the smaller towns of Singa and Dinder, resulting in a mass exodus of civilians from all three cities, particularly to the neighbouring states of Gedaref and Blue Nile.

The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated in a report yesterday that since 24 June, approximately 136,130 people have been displaced from Sennar. The state is already home to over 285,000 people who fled from Khartoum and Al Jazirah, indicating that many who have left in the past two weeks will likely be experiencing displacement for the second or third time.

The IOM also noted that villages in Gedaref State, one of the potential targets of the RSF campaign, have witnessed a significant outflow of people.

Read: UN seeks help for Sudan refugees fleeing to Libya, Uganda