MEMBERS of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan expressed concern about the escalating impact of the conflict on civilians after meeting about 200 people from almost all states of Sudan during a visit to Uganda from 1 to 18 December 2024. The experts:
- commend the Ugandan authorities for opening their borders to Sudanese and other refugees and supporting them where possible, including with humanitarian assistance.
- call on international community to support Uganda and other countries hosting large numbers of Sudanese refugees to ensure the refugees have access to basic facilities, including nutrition, healthcare, hygienic needs, education and live in humane conditions and with dignity.
Note that these refugees are able to exercise freedom of expression, association and movement. As a result, Uganda has become a main hub for Sudanese civil society and human rights defenders. Read full story below.
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By UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Dated Thursday, 19 December 2024 - full copy:
Civilians fleeing war in Sudan to Uganda give harrowing testimony to United Nations Fact-Finding Mission
GENEVA – Dozens of men, women and children who fled Sudan have offered vital testimony about the country’s deadly conflict to human rights experts visiting a settlement camp in neighbouring Uganda.
Members of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan expressed concern about the escalating impact of the conflict on civilians after meeting about 200 people from almost all states of Sudan during a visit to Uganda from 1 to 18 December.
“Instead of contributing positively to the rebuilding of Sudan, millions of Sudanese refugees are trapped in dire conditions in camps and settlements in neighbouring countries as the conflict rages on,” Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, said. “They have no means or employment while waiting desperately to be able to return to their home country.”
Visiting a location for new arrivals in Kiryandongo, Uganda, which hosts more than 50,000 refugees mostly from Sudan and South Sudan, the experts met refugees from the capital Khartoum as well as Blue Nile, Darfur, Gezira, Kordofan and White Nile, and observed first-hand their dire circumstances, as the conflict enters a new phase moving eastward.
The visit also shed light on key incidents, including the siege of El Fasher city and its surroundings in North Darfur since April 2024. The Fact-Finding Mission collected harrowing testimonies of widespread destruction, killings, rape and other sexual violence. The siege has been accompanied by relentless shelling between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, and resulting in catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
The experts further heard from Sudanese women about the huge challenges they had faced and their suffering before reaching Uganda.
Several women highlighted an increase in miscarriages, while others had been disproportionately hit by airstrikes or shelling directed at markets, both as vendors, and as they were obtaining essential supplies for their families. Women also reported sexual harassment, including by individuals wearing RSF uniforms, and speaking foreign languages. Many women spoke about their desire to shape the future of Sudan and not to leave the future of the country in the hands of the warring men.
“The women and children of Sudan are not only the main victims of this senseless conflict, but they also hold the key to a peaceful and dignified life for all Sudanese,” Mona Rishmawi, a member of the Fact-Finding Mission, said. “They must have a seat at any negotiations as equal stakeholders.”
About half of Sudan’s population - nearly 26 million people - are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, with nearly three million facing acute hunger. Over 11 million civilians have been displaced internally, and nearly three million refugees have fled the country. This includes 64,000 who have fled to Uganda since the beginning of the current conflict in April last year.
“The sheer figures about hunger and displacement reemphasize the imperative of inquiring into the root causes of the violence and promoting accountability for the atrocity crimes to ensure that the cycle of violence ends,” Mr. Othman said.
The Fact-Finding Mission heard from the refugees that they faced gruelling journeys marked by numerous checkpoints where they were interrogated, detained and accused of collaborating with the opposite warring faction. Many were stripped of all possessions, including cash and mobile phones, with some forced to beg at mosques and appeal to charities to afford transportation out of the country.
The experts also heard of the challenges faced by persons with disabilities who endured displacements without access to necessary support or services. Individuals with mobility impairments recounted the extreme difficulties of fleeing conflict zones without adequate accommodations or assistance. Those with hearing impairment faced violence at checkpoints, being accused of spying for the other side.
The experts spoke to several Sudanese who fled the Gezira state, who described rape, forced labour, and other serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations, largely perpetrated by the RSF. Pillage and looting targeting civilian households and farms by the RSF have also exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gezira state. The SAF also caused significant human casualties with aerial bombardments of civilian areas.
The experts commend the Ugandan authorities for opening their borders to Sudanese and other refugees and supporting them where possible, including with humanitarian assistance. Particularly welcome is the ability of these refugees to exercise freedom of expression, association and movement. As a result, Uganda has become a main hub for Sudanese civil society and human rights defenders.
Sudanese refugees can enter the job market and access health care and education in the same way as Ugandan nationals. Despite being highly skilled, however, their ability to benefit from this generosity is limited by economic and language barriers, and the inability to provide documentation to prove their qualifications due to their rapid displacement.
“Therefore,” expert Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said, “the Fact-Finding Mission Sudan calls on the international community to support Uganda and other countries hosting large numbers of Sudanese refugees to ensure that the refugees have access to basic facilities, including nutrition, health care, hygienic needs and education, and that they can live in humane conditions and with dignity.”
The Fact-Finding Mission Sudan also visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where it engaged in constructive dialogue with the African Union and UN agencies. This is in line with its mandate to work with other national, regional and international efforts to address the human rights and international humanitarian law violations, and related crimes, in Sudan and advance peace, justice and accountability.
Background: The Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan in October 2023 with resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2, and extended its mandate until October 2025 with resolution A/HRC/RES/57/2.
Its key task is “to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.”
The Fact-Finding Mission is also mandated to collect and analyze evidence in view of any future legal proceedings; to identify, where possible, individuals and entities responsible; and to make recommendations with a view to ending impunity and ensuring accountability and access to justice for victims and survivors. The three experts were appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council in December 2023.
The Fact-Finding Mission presented two reports to the Human Rights Council in September (A/HRC/57/23) and October 2024 (A/HRC/57/CRP.6), respectively. The September report was also transmitted to the UN General Assembly.
For media queries, please contact: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the UN Investigative Missions, todd.pitman@un.org / (+41) 76 691 1761; or Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer, simp@un.org / +41 79 477 4411.
View original: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/12/civilians-fleeing-war-sudan-uganda-give-harrowing-testimony-united-nations
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Related Report
Sudan Watch - Dec 04, 2024
Uganda welcomes Sudanese refugees with a plot of land to live & farm, 5-year residency, school education
Over 60,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda where, reportedly, asylum processes are dealt with swiftly. Once new arrivals have registered with the UNHCR in Uganda, they are granted a five-year residency permit. ...
https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/12/uganda-welcomes-sudanese-refugees-with.html
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