UN releases 22 mln USD for people fleeing Sudan fighting

People wait to be evacuated near an airport in Omdurman, Sudan, April 26, 2023. (Xinhua)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, the relief chief, authorized the funds to help support about 250,000 people the UN Refugee Agency reported seeking safety in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has released 22 million U.S. dollars to aid people fleeing the hostilities in Sudan into four neighboring countries, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths, the relief chief, authorized the funds to help support about 250,000 people the UN Refugee Agency reported seeking safety in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

Fighting between two military factions broke out in Sudan's capital of Khartoum on April 15 and spread elsewhere in the country.

OCHA said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad Violet Kakyomya visited refugees and returnees at the border in Koufroun earlier on Friday.

The office said renewed violence in Sudan's West Darfur state drove about 30,000 people to cross into Chad in the last week. Humanitarian agencies are working closely with the government to scale up the response.

The International Organization for Migration said the conflict has displaced more than 843,000 people inside Sudan.

Since the fighting broke out, the World Health Organization (WHO) verified 34 attacks on health care, leading to eight deaths and 18 injuries, impacting 21 facilities.

WHO said it delivered medicines and medical supplies in Sudan to the State Ministry of Health and partners in the states of Aj Jazirah, Gedaref, Kassala, Northern State and River Nile. More than 30 tons of additional emergency health supplies are heading to Wad Madani from Port Sudan.