Sudanhorizon Highlights the Tragedy of Sudanese Refugees Knocking on the Doors of Refugee Camps in East Africa

East Africa – Sudanhorizon – Ali Al-Basir

Sudan is facing one of the most dangerous and horrific wars the world has witnessed in modern history, as attested by international organisations affiliated with the United Nations and its agencies concerned with monitoring humanitarian violations and refugees and the World Food Program. The effects of climate change and the environment have exacerbated the scale of the tragedy.

According to reports by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sudan, with the continued development of the conflict, has become one of the largest displacement, humanitarian and protection crises in the world. As of June 2024, 10 million people were forcibly displaced and scattered inside and outside Sudan.

According to UN estimates, more than 2 million Sudanese have arrived in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda, with 7.7 million displaced people moving within Sudan.

According to World Food Program reports, Sudan, with the ongoing war, is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity recorded by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in the country. From June to September 2024, 25.6 million people faced crisis or worse conditions, more than half the population.

This situation has prompted large numbers of Sudanese to flee with their families in search of safety and security. Some of them have settled in the (Nyarugusu) camp, located in the northwestern region of the Kigoma suburb on the Tanzanian border (three kilometres from the Democratic Republic of the Congo), which is one of the Tanzanian camps that hosts 246,780 refugees and asylum seekers, most of them from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Challenges for Refugees in Tanzania

Refugees in Tanzania face significant challenges, the most important of which is the lack of funding, as the World Food Programme says it has been forced to cut food rations for refugees by half, especially since the country has recently witnessed an increase in the number of arrivals fleeing unrest in the North Kivu region. Official statistics indicate that 2,643 Congolese refugees have sought refuge in Tanzania via Kigoma since May of this year and have been transferred to the Nyarugusu refugee camp in the Kasulu region, awaiting asylum applications that the National Commission will process for the Granting of Asylum to Foreigners, which has exacerbated the crisis.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees described the situation in Tanzania as (worrying), especially for groups at high risk who require specialised care and attention, such as pregnant and nursing women and children under the age of five.

Strategic Dimensions of Border Refugee Camps

A recent field study conducted in April 2024 and published by the Tanzanian newspaper Citizen on the reasons for hosting most refugees in East Africa near the border was prepared by Dr. Kara Ross Camarena, an assistant professor at Loyola University in Chicago, who indicated that there are more than 300 refugee camps in East Africa, approximately 70% of which are located within a distance of 30 to 50 kilometres from international borders, which enables refugees in Kakuma, for example, to walk across the Kenyan border and reach Uganda or South Sudan within a day or two, which means that rebel groups operating in any of these countries can reach the refugee camp.

The study indicated that exploitation by armed groups is one of the many threats facing refugees in border camps. They are often not allowed to leave the camps to look for work, which makes them dependent on aid and thus makes them vulnerable to armed groups that recruit them for their causes and also impose taxes informally on refugees by taking a share of the aid they receive or demanding contributions.

The study concluded that countries’ policies regarding hosting refugees have strategic dimensions related to refugees to influence the war from which the refugees fled. The study cited Tanzania and Kenya’s choice of the location of camps on the border and the restrictions on work and movement, so the impact on the war through these imposed policies, in addition to this situation, gave rebel groups the ability to access refugee camps and exploit them.

The study reached an important conclusion, which is that the presence of camps on the border and with these controls and policies does not benefit refugees as it should and that the biggest beneficiaries of these conditions are armed and rebel groups.

Sudanese in the Most Dangerous Refugee Camps

After severe suffering and a long journey, the first Sudanese young man (A) arrived at the Nyarugusu refugee camp in early May 2024. He faced the problem of dealing with a number of African nationalities with different languages and dialects, as well as the problem of food, the type of which he was not accustomed to before. He remained isolated in his situation, facing an unknown fate. He said in an exclusive statement to the Sudanhorizon news website that he “trusted in God and chose the camp after arriving in Tanzania and applying to the Commission to request asylum.” He added that the war forced him to adapt to any situation, provided it was safe from the horrors of fighting. He confirmed that he did not face any dangers inside the camp because the camp was prepared in the form of a village divided for each ethnic group or from one country in a specific and defined area. Last June – according to the Sudanese refugee (A) – three young men arrived at the camp and joined it to form the first Sudanese group in the refugee camps of East Africa. Then, a family of (8) individuals arrived, including (5) children, two girls and three boys, and their number reached about 20 Sudanese.

The Sudanese community in Tanzania inspected this group and assessed their needs, which were represented by providing impregnated mosquito nets and some women’s health supplies and financial support to help them cope with the camp conditions. They also identified a point of contact with them to deal with any emergency that happens to one of them.

The Sudanhorizon team met with a number of Sudanese refugees, some of whom admitted that they chose this camp to apply for Asylum elsewhere in Europe or Canada.

Some said that circumstances forced them to choose Tanzania, but they could not live there due to the high cost of living and housing.

The bet on the return of these Sudanese and their exit from this crisis remains dependent on Sudan returning to its normal and pioneering status, which we hope will not be long in coming.