Civilians fleeing war in Sudan to Uganda give harrowing testimony to UN Fact-Finding Mission

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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Press Release
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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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. 

The Ugandan government also grants refugees a plot of land to settle on and farm, and Sudanese children are given opportunities to enter schools. 

International organisations also provide weekly food and financial aid, and alongside this Sudanese volunteers have set up initiatives to provide free meals in the refugee camps with support from organisations and individuals.

Note, Europe has war at its door. Illegal immigrants risk losing their lives en route via criminal gangs or being turned back. Read more in report below.

Infographic credit: Africa Center for Strategic Studies - PDF

Image map credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica

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From The New Arab

By Abdelhameed Awad

Dated Tuesday, 03 December 2024 - full copy:

'Missing Sudan, but at least it's safe': Uganda welcomes Sudanese refugees with a plot of land and residency as displaced navigate challenges in new lives

Over 50,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda, where asylum processes are dealt with swiftly and upon acceptance, refugees are given a plot of land

Tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Uganda are struggling to resume their lives in the face of myriad difficulties, despite the silver lining of a relatively open-door policy in the country and asylum provisions which are more generous than many other states.

Over 50,000 Sudanese have reached Uganda so far, and many more are crossing the border into the country, which has stood out for the relatively swift pace it has processed newly arrived Sudanese refugees and granted them entry visas.

Tanzeel, a young girl from Wad Madani in central Sudan, came to Uganda in the hope of being able to complete her secondary school studies, she explains to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister edition. She has registered for the Sudanese Certificate Examination and is currently waiting for the rest of her family to arrive.

Once new arrivals have registered with the UNHCR in the country, they are granted a five-year residency permit. The Ugandan government also grants refugees a plot of land to settle on and farm, and Sudanese children are given opportunities to enter schools.

International organisations also provide weekly food and financial aid, and alongside this Sudanese volunteers have set up initiatives to provide free meals in the refugee camps with support from organisations and individuals.

Near the Refugee reception offices in Bweyale, in east Uganda (300km away from the capital Kampala), hundreds of Sudanese refugees gather in cafes and restaurants.

Refugee communities have formed in 11 neighbourhoods across the city. Some of them have constructed tents with wood sticks and tarpaulin mats draped over them.

They complain about the lack of toilets, the distance to the hospital, and that a number of them have been assaulted and robbed by gangs.

Most Sudanese refugees in the country are currently spread between Kampala and Bweyale. Those in Kampala have tended towards renting private apartments or houses despite the high rents, and many have tried to enlist in the job market despite a lack of work opportunities.

Due to this, some have set up their businesses; restaurants, bakeries and stores owned by Sudanese individuals have spread, and these in turn are gaining the custom of other refugees, as they are providing Sudanese products.

Young refugee Anas Al Hussein says: "Work opportunities are limited, and those available are poorly paid. I worked twice - once in a factory, and a second time in a company distributing food items. In the end, I decided to open a small shop in a suburb of Bweyale, through which I can support my family and cover school and medical expenses."

Since the start of the conflict in Sudan in mid-April 2023, over 11 million civilians have been forced to flee their homes  

[Amaury Falt-Brown/AFP via Getty]

There are thousands of Sudanese refugees living in Bweyale, all of whom have journeyed hundreds of miles to reach the city, where a UNHCR office has been opened especially to provide reception to Sudanese refugees and host them during their initial days in the reception camps until their registration process is completed.

Once they have acquired the necessary documents, they start receiving financial support and are relocated to land that the Ugandan government has allocated for them.

Abkar Arbab lives with his wife and eight children in one of the refugee reception camps. He tells of how his family journeyed for around a month, starting from the Mayo district in the south of Khartoum. From there, they travelled to Rabak City in White Nile State, then to Renk City in South Sudan.

From there they journeyed to Malakal, then to the capital Juba, reaching Nimule before crossing the South Sudanese-Ugandan border, where they were received by UNHCR staff and transported to Bweyale.

"The journey used up all the money I had, and physically exhausted me and my family," Abkar said, but "then we were given refugee cards and started receiving financial support."

He says the family plans to use the stipend to buy building materials after they were granted a plot of land.

"I am planning to farm it to provide for my family's needs, and am optimistic because I have experience in agriculture, unlike many refugees. As well as this, charity organisations have provided us with humanitarian assistance."

Formidable challenges facing Sudanese refugees are the difficulty of integrating into Ugandan society and the fears they have for the futures of their children, in addition to the lack of work opportunities and high rents.

Marwa al-Farsi, another Sudanese refugee in Uganda, expresses her sorrow at what the Sudanese people have endured and the state they are now in.

They "were burned a lot before the war, and they are being burned after it," she says.

She says she left her home in Khartoum for many reasons, including that her children were panicking every time they heard gunshots or shelling. However, now she misses her life in Sudan but says that living in Uganda is challenging, at least here they are safe.

Software engineering student Mohammed Al Muntasir Hussein came with a group of friends from Omdurman, after hearing that gaining asylum in Uganda might give them the chance to be resettled in Europe later.

With this hope, they embarked on the long, exhausting and dangerous journey to reach Uganda. After crossing the border, they spent four months in the Nyumanzi reception centre after which they were taken to Bweyale and given a plot of land to live on and farm.

They spent ten months in Bweyale, and have been unable to complete their studies. The UNHCR gives them 14,000 Ugandan shillings every month, equivalent to $4 per person, "which is barely enough for two days," according to Mohammed.

However, they coordinate and assist each other to get through the rest of the month.

His friend Abubakar Jalal, also a university student from the Kalakla area of south Khartoum, complains about the challenges in accessing Ugandan universities to complete his education.

He's a medical engineering student and completed his third year but his education was halted due to the war. Even though he has 14 certificates from various training courses, he still hasn't found a way to obtain a scholarship.

As for Sudanese musician Saud Imam, he is also in Bweyale, where he has been given a piece of land.

"The first period was hard, especially as the land they gave us is in the middle of an intensively farmed area. It's a narrow space, and is full of insects," he says.

"We've also had other problems like a lack of food," he adds, explaining that they had been receiving a monthly food basket "but then it was swapped for a monthly sum which isn't sufficient. The bigger problem though is accessing water; you need to walk several kilometres every day to fetch water."

However, Saud has tried his best to alleviate the suffering of those around him and lighten the burdens of his fellow refugees.

"When I reached Bweyale, I found that some of the people who had got here before me were suffering from nervous breakdowns, so I started organising concerts."

He began two choirs, one for children and another for adults, and started organising cultural evenings "to ease people's suffering, and help them heal."

"I have faith that music is one of the things which can bring a change of spirit, and allow people to forget war and its troubles," he says.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.

Translated by Rose Chacko

This article is taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirrors the source's original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors

Have questions or comments? Email us at: info@alaraby.co.uk

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