Sudan is home to 14 percent of the global internally displaced population, leading the world in terms of displacement. A total of nine million Sudanese have suffered displacement since the start of the war between the government and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary unit last year.

Now, aid agencies and NGOs are sounding alarm that the crisis might expand beyond the region, as fighting in Darfur has increased dramatically in recent days.

The UN has issued a warning on June 20 that the mass exodus of people could expand beyond neighboring states such as Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, where at least two million of Sudanese national already are seeking safety and shelter.

The threat of an impending famine as well as natural disasters affecting the entire region are adding further urgency to this scenario, UNHCR commissioner Fillipo Grandi said on June 19.

He further cautioned that if peace remained elusive, people would start to seek protection beyond the region.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies meanwhile added that at least 25 million people are now in dire need of humanitarian aid in and around Sudan due to the conflict, with about a three quarter majority already suffering hunger.

Also read: Sudanese refugees in Germany decry forgotten war

Growing numbers of Sudanese asylum seekers in EU

The European Union meanwhile has responded to the latest developments, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

This comes as the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has published its first-ever country focus report on Sudan.

In it, the EUAA highlights the fact that a growing number of people from Sudan are also now seeking safety and protection in the EU.

Between April 2023 and January 2024, Sudanese nationals lodged almost 10,000 asylum applications in Europe, increasing by almost each month consecutively. About a third of all applicants were granted protection in the first instance, EUAA added.

The number of applicants meanwhile reflects more than double the rate of asylum applications lodged by Sudanese nationals in Europe the previous year.

Criticism against EU-funded security forces in Egypt

However, there has also been significant criticism against the EU and its bodies in the context of the Sudan war.

According to a recent report published by Amnesty International, Egyptian authorities have conducted mass round-ups and deportations of Sudanese war refugees, making use of EU-funded security forces.

Amnesty said that Egypt had "forcibly returned an estimated 800 Sudanese detainees between January and March 2024, who were all denied the possibility to claim asylum."

The report highlighted that those who were arrested were kept in makeshift detention centers run by Egyptian border guards, which receive extensive EU funding.

Amnesty spokesperson Sara Hashash found it "unfathomable that Sudanese women, men and children fleeing the armed conflict in their country and seeking safety across the border into Egypt, are being rounded up en masse and arbitrarily detained in deplorable and inhumane conditions before being unlawfully deported."

Amnesty added in a press release that the EU was thus risking being accused of complicity in "human rights violations."

Also read: Sudan's year of war: Why there's no hope for a cease-fire

EU-Egypt agreement

This comes after the EU signed an €80 million funding agreement with Egypt two years ago designed to prevent migration to Europe.

The deal is intended to help with "border management, search and rescue and anti-smuggling operations," said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell a year ago. Recent developments have cast doubt on whether it fulfills this remit.

About 500,000 Sudanese nationals are currently registered as refugees in Egypt.

Also read: EU criticized over migration deal with Egypt