Sudan’s war churns out thousands of unaccompanied children
This video grab taken from AFPTV video footage on April 20, 2023, shows an aerial view of black smoke rising above the Khartoum International Airport in Sudan, amid ongoing battles between the forces of two rival generals.
As the sun sets over the refugee camp in Blue Nile State, casting long shadows across rows of makeshift tents, a small group of children huddle together. Their eyes are marked with anxiety and fatigue, according to a video shared by a charity group working to rescue children of war in Sudan.
These are the survivors of a conflict that has torn their lives apart. Among them is six-year-old Ahmed who lost his parents and older siblings in the chaos of the conflict. Aid workers tending to this group warn they may have survived, but the trauma they face may be lifelong.
In the last six weeks, the camp has seen an alarming influx of unaccompanied minors. Each day, weary young faces arrive, having journeyed alone through a war-torn landscape, carrying mostly nothing but the heavy burden of both physical injuries and emotional trauma.
As violence escalates across Sudan, the growing number of unaccompanied and separated children underscores the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Over the past six weeks, nearly 500 children have arrived alone in Blue Nile and Gedaref states, fleeing the latest wave of conflict that has ravaged the country for 16 months.
The conflict in Sudan, marked by intense fighting between the army (SAF), led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group under his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis.
Since the conflict began in April 2023, nearly 16,000 lives have been lost, over 33,000 people injured, and an estimated 10.7 million people (2.1 million families) are now internally displaced in Sudan, many are fleeing to neighbouring countries in search of safety.
The conflict, which escalated on June 29 with fierce fighting in Sinja, the capital of Sennar State, has displaced approximately 725,000 people, with over half of them being children, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM DTM). Many families, displaced from Khartoum and Gazira earlier in the conflict, are now seeking refuge in the Blue Nile and Gedaref, but with rising numbers of children arriving without their parents.
Between 01 June– 31 July 2024, DTM Sudan which monitors violence hotspots reported 55 incidents triggering displacement across locations in multiple states.
Ahmed’s experience is echoed by many of the children arriving at the camp. UK charity group Save the Children says that from June 29 to August 14, at least 451 children have made the perilous journey to safety alone—the highest number recorded in such a short period since the conflict began in April 2023.
Many of these children are fleeing for the second or third time, having initially sought refuge in Sinja after escaping earlier conflicts in Khartoum and Gazira states.
This alarming trend underscores the severe impact of the ongoing violence on the youngest and most vulnerable.
The ongoing rainy season, marked by flooding and fatalities, has worsened the world's largest displacement crisis adding to the numbers of the displaced with 6.7 million children now forced from their homes.
“Our staff in Blue Nile and Gedaref states are receiving at least nine children without their parents in camps for displaced people every day,” says Mary Lupul, Humanitarian Director for Save the Children in Sudan.
“These children have seen their homes, hospitals, playgrounds and schools bombed, looted and occupied, and have been separated from their parents or guardians. They’ve lost loved ones and been subject to unspeakable violence. We know that children who have been separated from families are at much higher risk of violence, abuse and exploitation, including trafficking, recruitment into armed groups and sexual and gender-based violence.
The charity says it has offered some kind of ‘home’ environment for the children to settle their minds. But that may require wider collaboration as the situation is not unique to Sennar as the same has been seen in other states like Blue Nile where violence raged recently.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian response in Sudan remains critically underfunded, with only 37.9 percent of the $2.7 billion UN response plan covered.
In Sudan, the interior ministry has reported that recent heavy rains have caused at least 68 deaths and worsened the plight of millions already struggling in what is now the world’s largest displacement crisis, leading to shortages and soaring prices of essential goods like wheat flour, oil, cereals, and onions.
A report released last week by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said about 25.6 million people – over half of the population of Sudan – face acute hunger, including more than 755,000 people on the brink of famine, according to the latest analysis.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) reported over the weekend a total of 28 deaths from cholera in just one month, in the country.
