Sudan: Refugee Crisis and Challenges in Host Countries (Visual Report)

Author: Mathilde Guenin, MA

May 27, 2025

View the interactive visual report here on Tableau.

Two Years of Civil War in Sudan

South Sudan and Chad: Fragile Hosts

Egypt: Discrimination, New Policies, and Anti-Refugee Sentiment

Downloadable version below.

Sudan - Refugee Crisis and Challenges in Host Countries (Mathilde Guenin).pdf

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Glossary

• Genocide in Darfur: Refers to the mass killing and displacement of ethnic groups in the Darfur region of Sudan, particularly targeting the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa peoples, by the Sudanese government and militias between 2003 and 2008. 

• Janjaweed militias: The term Janjaweed refers to the armed groups of the Arabs of Darfur and western Sudan. The militia group is often accused of carrying out atrocities such as during the Darfur genocide and working with the Sudanese government to target non-Arab ethnic groups.

• Green Party: It brings green national parties together in the European Parliament which share the same green values; for instance, fighting climate change, protecting biodiversity and protecting democracy and freedoms. 

• European Parliament: The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years. 

• Rapid Support Forces (RSF): A paramilitary group in Sudan, initially formed from Janjaweed militias, that has played a significant role in the Sudanese conflict, including during the Darfur genocide.

• Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF): The national military of Sudan, involved in multiple conflicts, including the Darfur genocide and the ongoing Sudanese Civil War.

• Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): People who are forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence, or disasters but remain within their country’s borders.

• Food Insecurity:  A person is food insecure when they lack regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. This may be due to unavailability of food and/or lack of resources to obtain food.

• Refugees: Individuals who flee their country due to fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and seek refuge in another country.

• Civil War: A war between groups within the same country, often over issues such as governance, resources, or ethnic and religious conflict. 

• Asylum: The protection granted to individuals in a foreign country due to a fear of persecution in their home country, based on criteria like race, religion, nationality, or political opinion.

• Droughts: Prolonged periods of low rainfall, leading to water shortages and crop failure.

• Poverty Line: The threshold below which an individual or household is considered to be living in poverty, typically measured in terms of income, access to basic needs, and standard of living.

• Refugee Response Plan: A coordinated international effort to provide protection and assistance to refugees, including food, shelter, medical care, and legal support, often led by agencies like the UNHCR. 

• The Refugee Funding Tracker (RFT) was developed by UNHCR to track financial data related to refugee programmes. At present, it covers inter-agency budgets and funding for refugee-related appeals and plans such as Country and Regional Refugee Response Plans (RRPs). Available data includes funding received by partners involved in and appealing for funds in refugee responses. 

• Fragile States Index: A ranking that assesses the stability of countries based on indicators such as political instability, corruption, economic fragility, and violence. Countries that score highly are considered fragile or at risk of collapse.

• Hunger Index: The Hunger Index measures hunger and food insecurity in a country. Countries are grouped into categories based on their score:

  • Extremely alarming: score over 50 (currently no countries fall in this category)

  • Alarming: 35 to 49.9

  • Serious: 20 to 34.9

  • Moderate: 10 to 19.9

  • Low: less than 9.9

• Human Development Index (HDI): Measure a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: life expectancy, education (mean and expected years of schooling), and per capita income. HDI scores range from 0 to 1, with higher scores indicating higher levels of development.

• Refugee Convention 1951: The United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which defines who is a refugee, their rights, and the legal obligations of states to protect them, and the 1967 Protocol that expanded its scope.

• Rule of Law Index: The Index captures the extent to which the government complies with the law, courts are independent, laws transparent, justice accessible, corruption absent, and the bureaucracy is impartial. It ranges from 0 to 1. (1 means full respect for the rule of law)

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Sources

1. Humanitarian Action. "Sudan." March 2025.https://humanitarianaction.info/plan/1188

2. Humanitarian Action. "South Sudan." December 2024.https://humanitarianaction.info/plan/1157

3. Humanitarian Action. "Chad." December 2024.http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2025/article/chad-2

4. Resource Watch. "Fragile States Index." 2025.https://resourcewatch.org/data/explore/soc023rw1-Fragile-States-Index?section=Discover&selectedCollection=&zoom=3&lat=0&lng=0&pitch=0&bearing=0&basemap=dark&labels=light&layers=%255B%257B%2522dataset%2522%253A%25221ae29c41-a9bb-498e-9b72-9f59ef1d1c62%2522%252C%2522opacity%2522%253A1%252C%2522layer%2522%253A%2522bf13078c-1525-48c6-bccc-f9b4d150c98e%2522%257D%255D&aoi=&page=1&sort=most-viewed&sortDirection=-1

5. Voice of America. "Chad’s Groundbreaking Asylum Law." March 2025.https://www.voanews.com/a/chad-s-groundbreaking-asylum-law-gives-sudanese-refugees-opportunity-to-work-/7992928.html

6. The Guardian. "Fears Grow of Return to Civil War in South Sudan." March 2025.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/27/fears-grow-of-return-to-civil-war-in-south-sudan-after-vice-president-riek-machar-detention

7. UN News. "Sudan Crisis Update." April 2025.https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1161801

8. UNHCR. "Sudan Situation." April 2025.https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/sudansituation

9. Security Council Report. "Sudan Briefing." March 2025.https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/sudan-briefing-5.php#:~:text=According%20to%20UNICEF,%20nearly%203.2,life-threatening%20form%20of%20malnutrition

10. UNOCHA. "Sudan: Key Facts and Figures." March 2025.https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/key-facts-and-figures-sudan-crisis-7-march-2025

11. WFP. "Chad." 2025.https://www.wfp.org/countries/chad

12. UNOCHA. "Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan." December 2024.https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/sudan-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-2025-executive-summary-december-2024-enar

13. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. "Displacement Data." 2025.https://www.internal-displacement.org/database/displacement-data/

14. IOM. "Displacement Data." 2025.https://dtm.iom.int/fr/node/47496#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20internally%20displaced,South%20Darfur%2C%20and%20Blue%20Nile

15. Fragile States Index. "Global Data." 2025.https://fragilestatesindex.org/global-data/

16. Global Hunger Index. 2025.https://www.globalhungerindex.org

17. UNHCR. "Sudan Situation." 2025.https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/sudansituation

18. Global Hunger Index. 2025.https://www.globalhungerindex.org

19. Arab Center Washington DC. "Egypt’s Policies and Rhetoric Target Sudanese Refugees." 2025.https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/egypts-policies-and-rhetoric-target-sudanese-refugees/#:~:text=Egypt, given its proximity and,residency, and employment of Sudanese

20. Amnesty International. "Reprioritising Resources for the Future of South Sudan." August 2024.https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/education/2024/08/reprioritising-resources-for-the-future-of-south-sudan/

21. Human Rights Watch. "Genocide in Darfur Guide." 2025.https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-darfur-guide/

22. The New York Times. "Sudan Genocide Numbers." January 2025.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/world/africa/sudan-genocide-numbers.html#:~:text=A%20civil%20war%20in%20Sudan,as%20the%20Rapid%20Support%20Forces

23. Refugees International. "No Model of Refuge: Sudanese Refugees in Egypt." 2025.https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/no-model-of-refuge-sudanese-refugees-in-egypt/

24. World Population Review. "Education Index by Country." 2025.https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-index-by-country#title

25. CIA. "The World Factbook: Infant Mortality Rate." 2025.https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortality-rate/country-comparison/

26. UNDP. "Human Development Index." 2025.https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI

27. EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid. "Funding Humanitarian Aid." 2025.https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/funding-evaluations/funding-humanitarian-aid_en

28. IOM. “A Year in Review: Displacement in Sudan.” 2024

29. https://dtm.iom.int/fr/node/47496#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20internally%20displaced,South%20Darfur%2C%20and%20Blue%20Nile.  

30. Refugee Funding Tracker. 2024 https://refugee-funding-tracker.org/

31. Refugee Funding Tracker. “Sudan Refugee Plan.” 2024 https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZWE5MTAyYjYtNDZmYi00NGYzLWFkYjEtMzQ5MTAxZDBiZTU1IiwidCI6ImU1YzM3OTgxLTY2NjQtNDEzNC04YTBjLTY1NDNkMmFmODBiZSIsImMiOjh9  

32. EU News. “EU Parliament approves four billion loan for Egypt. Greens: “Commission throws away democracy and human rights.” 2025

33. https://www.eunews.it/en/2025/04/01/eu-parliament-approves-four-billion-loan-for-egypt-greens-commission-throws-away-democracy-and-human-rights/ 

34. World Justice Project. “Rule of Law index.” 2024 https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/

35. UNHCR. “Sudan Crisis Explained.” 2025 https://www.unrefugees.org/news/sudan-crisis-explained/