Nearly 2,800 people were displaced from 10 villages in Sudan’s Blue Nile region in a single day as security conditions deteriorated, the International Organization for Migration said on Sunday.
The UN migration agency said its field teams estimated that around 560 households fled villages in Wad al-Mahi locality and moved toward Al-Roseires locality within Blue Nile.
The displaced residents came from the villages of Miri, Jabal Nimr, Abu Qudaf, Bashkarkat, Ab Jankour, Makla, Matangiya, Jabal al-Nour, Menza and Manshiling, according to the agency.
IOM described the security situation as “tense and volatile” and said it was continuing to monitor developments.
The latest displacement follows another major movement reported by the agency on Thursday, when around 7,000 people — representing some 1,400 households — fled four villages in Wad al-Mahi because of insecurity.
IOM said last month that 99,277 people had been displaced across Blue Nile between Jan. 11 and Aug. 23 this year.
The region has seen renewed fighting in recent days involving Sudan’s military and forces from the Rapid Support Forces and the allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, which have reported advances in areas around Blue Nile’s capital, Damazin.
The escalation has raised fears of further displacement as fighting spreads through communities already facing severe humanitarian pressures.
Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the RSF and has since developed into one of the world’s largest displacement crises.
UN and international estimates put the number of people forced from their homes by the conflict at around 13 million, while tens of thousands have been killed.
