The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has reported the registration of 7,300 new asylum-seekers from Sudan in Egypt, bringing the total number of asylum seekers to 168,250 since the onset of Sudan’s crisis in April 2023.
In its recent update, the agency disclosed that 17,950 individuals received registration appointments last week, contributing to a total of 367,000 registrations since April last year.
The UNHCR has entered into an agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports to foster social cohesion. This initiative aims to ensure refugees’ effective access to all youth centers across the country and enhance their digital literacy.
Furthermore, the UN refugee agency has collaborated with the Egyptian Ministry of Education to construct an additional 28 classrooms in areas with a high concentration of refugee school-age children, particularly those newly arrived from Sudan.
Due to the escalating violence in Sudan and the limited prospects for a ceasefire, the civilian population continues to flee a country on the verge of famine, according to the UN agency. Since the conflict erupted in April last year, the number of Sudanese seeking protection in Egypt has surged to 450,000 by the end of January, as indicated by official figures.
While the influx appeared to slow between July and October 2023, with 80,000 new arrivals during that period, the trend intensified from November onwards, with 120,000 arrivals between late November 2023 and January 2024.
Additionally, the UN agency estimates that tens of thousands of Sudanese, predominantly women and children, are currently in southern Egypt with limited access to basic services and facing high protection risks.
Meanwhile, over 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, require humanitarian assistance, with approximately 3.8 million children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition, according to the UN.
