2013 UNHCR country operations profi

2013 UNHCR country operations profile - Sudan

Working environment

The context


The operating environment in Sudan, where displacement and population movements occur continuously, is extremely challenging. UNHCR's work in the country covers four distinct situations: Khartoum; the Protocol Areas; eastern Sudan; and Darfur. The population of concern includes around 2.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), some 140,000 refugees, 7,000 asylum-seekers and an estimated hundreds of thousands persons at risk of statelessness. Most are refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia, but there is also a very large population of IDPs in Darfur, Khartoum and the east.
In 2012 UNHCR successfully launched the Transitional Solutions Initiative (TSI) with UNDP and the World Bank, in close partnership with the Sudanese Government, to promote self-reliance among some 77,000 long-staying refugees in eastern Sudan. UNHCR also began to implement a project with IOM and the local authorities to address the trafficking, smuggling and kidnapping of refugees and asylum-seekers in eastern Sudan.
Since the independence of South Sudan in 2011, disagreements over oil-sharing between Sudan and South Sudan and the shutting down of oil exports have caused high inflation in Sudan. Moreover, fighting in the Protocol Areas led to internal displacement in the border regions as well as a large outflow of refugees into Ethiopia and South Sudan in 2011 and 2012.
The Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), which was signed by the Government and one of the rebel groups in 2011, and the continuing voluntary returns of IDPs and refugees, are promising developments. However, violence in Darfur in July and August 2012 caused more internal displacement.
Following the secession of South Sudan, Sudanese nationality was automatically withdrawn from individuals of South Sudanese origin in Sudan. UNHCR is working to reduce the risk of statelessness for these groups by helping the Government of South Sudan to deliver documentation to its nationals in Sudan.
In April 2012, UNHCR assumed responsibility for the Emergency Shelter/Non-Food Items (ES-NFIs) sector in Sudan, including the Common Humanitarian Pipeline for Darfur.
However, from April to August 2012 Government-imposed restrictions on the movement of non-food items from warehouses to areas of displacement affected the ability of UNHCR and its partners to assist people of concern.
The needs

Refugees and the local community in eastern Sudan face acute poverty and lack of access to health care, education and employment. Refugees also face difficulties in integrating locally, and there is no possibility of voluntary repatriation at this time. Persistent drought has degraded the land and shrunk pasture lands, leading to malnutrition among refugees and host communities. Meanwhile, the 1,800 new refugees and asylum-seekers arriving each month brave often violent traffickers, smugglers and kidnappers.
Though many IDPs have returned in 2012 to their places of origin in Darfur, most return areas still lack basic services and infrastructure, and some 2.3 million people continue to remain displaced.
Approximately 34,000 Chadian refugees in Darfur, of whom 8,000 are in camps, also require basic assistance.
Unresolved post-independence issues have led to fighting and displacement in the Protocol Areas. The displaced suffer from malnutrition and lack of access to basic services due to disruption of the agricultural cycle and the breakdown of social services.
There are hundreds of thousands South Sudanese still living in Sudan. They are of mixed Sudanese-South Sudanese or unknown origin, but are unable to prove their entitlement to the nationality and are therefore at risk of statelessness.