Fighting in Sudan spills Chadian borders with refugees

By Euronews with Agencia EFE • last update: 04/20/2023 – 08:12

Sixth day of clashes in Sudan after the failure of the ceasefire between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

It is the second cessation of hostilities that has not been complied with.

Thousands of residents have fled the capital, Khartoum. So have some 320 Sudanese soldiers who have been detained in Chad, a neighboring country.

“The detained men claim to belong to the troops of General (Abdelfatah) al Burhan (leader of the Sudanese Army),” Chadian Defense Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim said.

However, he confirmed that numerous “refugees have been welcomed since the start of the fighting and the numbers are increasing. We are asking humanitarian organizations to intervene quickly to help them.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), between 10,000 and 20,000 refugees from Sudan have arrived in Chad since fighting began last Saturday, an armed clash that has left at least 270 dead so far.

Chad already hosted close to 400,000 refugees from Sudan within its borders, according to the latest UNHCR data.

The countries that share a border with Sudan fear that the situation will spread and generate great instability in the region.

The EU and the Arab League ask to resume the ceasefire and start peace talks

The European Union (EU) and its Member States “strongly” condemned this Wednesday the ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (FAR), and urged an “immediate” cessation of hostilities “without conditions preliminaries” and to the protection of Europeans.

“The EU supports the efforts for an immediate cessation of hostilities, which should serve as the first step for a permanent ceasefire agreement to be urgently negotiated, also in view of the upcoming Eid-al-Fitr celebration,” with the one that ends Ramadan, said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

The Arab League has tried on several occasions to mediate between the two opposing sides, as have other regional and international organizations, but without success.

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