Over 25 mln displaced in Horn of Africa

NAIROBI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Some 25 million people were internally displaced in the Horn of Africa by the end of June, with the data including 20 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in six countries and 5 million refugees and asylum seekers, organizations said Friday.
According to a report released by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, and the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the region still has the highest number of forcibly displaced persons in the world.
“The conflict in Sudan has driven an alarming increase in the regional number since the end of 2023, up from 20.5 million to 25 million by mid-2024,” the institutions said.
They observed that high levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition are prevalent among the displaced populations in the region.
According to IOM and IGAD, more than half of the region’s 20 million IDPs are in Sudan, followed by Somalia and Ethiopia.
Since the start of the conflict in Sudan in April 2023, 7.9 million people have been internally displaced, making it the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, they said.
About 2.3 million people have fled to neighboring countries, with a third seeking refuge in South Sudan, they observed. ■