Observers attributed this huge influx to three reasons, the most important of which is the geographical location of Sudan, which is surrounded by seven countries, most of which suffer from internal turmoil and crises; In addition to the tribal interaction between the population of the border areas in Sudan and those countries, and the hospitable nature of the Sudanese people.
Multiple nationalities
Refugees from the state of South Sudan, which separated in 2011, constitute about half of the total number of refugees currently in Sudan; They are followed by the Ethiopians, whose number increased remarkably during the year 2021 due to the internal security crisis that resulted from the outbreak of war in the Tigray region at the end of 2020. There are also tens of thousands of Yemeni and Syrian refugees, in addition to large numbers of Eritrean and Chadian refugees.
Mohamed Youssef Al-Mustafa, professor of anthropology at the University of Khartoum, told Sky News Arabia that the tribal overlap and geographical proximity are two important factors that make Sudan a preferred attraction for many East and Central Africans who suffer from security or economic crises in their countries.
Local authorities, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), are seeking to relieve pressure on local communities through programs that include compromise solutions that include voluntary return, legal work, self-reliance or resettlement according to available opportunities from European and Western countries.
health and economic challenges
About 61 percent of refugees in Sudan live in settlements outside of camps, in host communities and in urban areas; While 39 of them reside in 24 camps in eastern Sudan and the states of Blue Nile, White Nile and Darfur.
While Sudan sometimes benefits from the large number of refugees to fill the shortage of local labor, especially in the agricultural areas; However, this presence, on the other hand, poses a great challenge to the Sudanese authorities, as it opens the way for prohibited activities such as human trafficking and the spread of arms trade, in addition to health and economic challenges.
Sudan works in cooperation with UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the Anti-Human Trafficking Working Group to facilitate a comprehensive approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons through coordination and cooperation between relevant agencies and organizations.