Editor's note: In observance of World Refugee Day, we present a three-part news story series that sheds light on the experiences and challenges faced by refugees around the globe. Each installment focuses on a distinct region grappling with its own unique refugee crisis. This part of the series centers on the ongoing war in Sudan, examining the plight of refugees within the country itself and those who have sought refuge in neighboring nations. We delve into the humanitarian calamity faced by these displaced individuals, the challenges they encounter, and the efforts made by international organizations to provide aid and support in the midst of an escalating crisis.

Guisma Bachir, 27, fled her village in West Darfur, 35 kilometers from the border, and has already spent 16 days in Chad.

"I put the children on donkeys, and I walked for a day before coming across the Chadian border," Guisma told the UN refugee agency United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Kaltouma Adam Khamis, another villager from Guisma's village, also fled to Chad with her teenage children. "To save our children and our lives, we fled and came here," said Kaltouma.

Half of Sudan population need humanitarian aid

The disaster they escaped is the deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, which have left over 3,000 people dead and more than 6,000 injured.

With multiple truces having been agreed upon and broken, the conflict has lasted more than two months, causing a dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan, which is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the most populous nations in the continent.

The ongoing conflict makes things worse in the northeast African country. An estimated 25 million people, more than half of the population of Sudan, need humanitarian aid and protection, said Ramesh Rajasingham, head and representative of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The number is a sharp 57 percent increase from 15.8 million in need at the beginning of 2023.

Meanwhile, there are now an estimated 2.1 million forcibly displaced in the war-torn country, including nearly 1.7 million internally and nearly 480,000 in neighboring countries, according to the UNHCR.

Some 35,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed into neighboring countries, said the UN refugee agency.

Challenges to neighboring countries

The most significant cross-border movements in the region have been Sudanese fleeing to Egypt and Chad, which respectively saw an influx of 210,000 Sudanese refugees and 115,980 refugees two months since the conflict began.

At the same time, there had been also many refugee returnees and refugees of other nationalities returning to their home countries or fleeing to other countries to escape the deadly conflict as Sudan used to host large refugee populations before being impacted by this new emergency.

Henceforth, the ongoing conflict, which has no end in sight yet, will bring more and more refugees cross Sudan's borders to neighboring countries, most of which have recently suffered from internal conflict and have sizable refugee and internally displaced populations of their own.

The influx of a large number of Sudanese refugees has brought a series of pressures to Chad and other neighboring countries, which urgently need the international community to help, said Laura Lo Castro, UNHCR representative in Chad.

Laura added Chad's response capacity has been stretched beyond its limits, and it now desperately needs the active assistance of the international community.

"Chad is under financed. The international community really must mobilize. We really fear the worst. Organizations will not be able to cope with this influx of Sudanese refugees," said Abdelhakim Tahir, the director of the Economic and Social Development Agency (ADES), a Chadian humanitarian NGO.

International donors pledged nearly $1.5 billion to combat the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and help its neighbors host refugees fleeing the fighting at a UN conference on Monday.

Though the amount is less than half of what humanitarians have said is needed this year to respond to the dire needs, UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths appreciated the timely help.

"It is very important that now these contributions be clearly allocated and disbursed as quickly as possible because we're really short of funds in this particular emergency."

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(With input from agencies)