Summary:

• IGAD reports that regional countries host 4.9 million refugees and asylum-seekers. Conflict and natural disasters have internally displaced 18.4 million people. Sudan’s conflict alone has displaced over 8.5 million, creating a major crisis.

KAMPALA, (Examiner) – The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) reported on Friday that regional nations, including Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, are currently accommodating 4.9 million refugees and asylum-seekers.

According to a statement released in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, since the start of 2024, approximately 153,000 refugees have repatriated to their countries of origin.

The majority of refugees and asylum-seekers, totaling over 2.2 million, originate from South Sudan. Moreover, the region also shelters more than 87,000 stateless individuals across Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan. Conflict and natural disasters have internally displaced around 18.4 million people within the region.

Countries like Sudan, Somalia, and South Sudan have been ravaged by conflicts, leading to widespread displacement. The conflict in Sudan, initiated in mid-April 2023 by an escalating power struggle within Sudan’s military forces, has uprooted over 8.5 million people, resulting in one of the world’s largest displacement crises.