Estimated GDP: $ 32.58 billion (2020 IMF, estimated)
Per capita income (purchasing power parity): $ 3,750 (2020 IMF, estimated)
Human Development Rank (HDI): 170 of 189 (2019)
Proportion of poverty (national poverty line): 46.5% (2013)
Distribution of income (Gini coefficient): 41.1 (2011)
Economic Transformation (BTI): Rank 131 of 137 (2020)
Refugee situation
According to UNHCR estimates, Sudan currently has around two million internally displaced people, mainly as a result of the Darfur conflict.
In addition, the uninterrupted conflicts in the “Two Areas” of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile between the Sudanese government army and the rebel group SPLM-N, which escalated again in 2015, exacerbated the refugee situation. A calming of the situation in 2017 and the resumption of the peace talks, which were broken off in 2016, in 2018 will lead to an incipient return of Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia and South Sudan to these areas, according to official information.
In addition to the approx. Two million internally displaced persons, as of the end of 2019 there are almost one million refugees from abroad in Sudan, according to UNHCR. The majority are the c a, who continue to flee from civil war and famine. 813,000 South Sudanese. According to the UNHCR, 65% of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan live outside of refugee camps. The second largest group comes from Eritrea with 118,000 refugees. Other refugees come from Ethiopia (50,000) and Syria (13,000).
According to eningbo, the situation of the Eritrean refugees in the Sudanese refugee camps remains precarious. In June 2016, the Sudanese authorities began to forcibly return Eritrean refugees who were in Khartoum and Dongola to Eritrea. Sudan is increasingly being used by East African migrants destined for Europe as a transit country for their journey through the Sahara to the Libyan Mediterranean coast. The country is accused of an active role in human trafficking by the international community. In March 2014, Sudan therefore passed an “Anti-Human Trafficking Law”.
To curb the flow of refugees to Europe, the EU is trying to expand its not undisputed cooperation with Sudan in the so-called “Khartoum Process”. Dealing with Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees endangers cooperation with the EU. The federal government wants to support refugees in Sudan with a training initiative. The BMZ is investing a total of 35 million euros in combating the causes of displacement.
Between the desert and the fire (English, 46:26 min.)
Video by Al Jazeera on the situation of the Eritrean refugees in Sudan
According to UNHCR, around half of the 650,000 Sudanese refugees abroad are in refugee camps in Chad. The improvement in the security situation in Darfur achieved through agreements between the Sudanese government and individual rebel groups in 2017 resulted in the first minor repatriation of refugees from Chad.
In Egypt, the approx. 40,000 Sudanese refugees living here under difficult conditions represent the largest group of refugees. The Sudanese in Egypt, who are usually stranded here only in a stopover on migration to other countries, also receive support for the family in the Home expected.
Thousands of Sudanese who have illegally entered Israel from Egypt via the Sinai Peninsula and are seeking asylum there have the choice of indefinite detention or “voluntary” return, according to reports from Human Rights Watch. According to Sudanese law, entry of Sudanese citizens into Israel can be punished with ten years imprisonment.
Stay healthy
Due to the very limited number of test options for the detection of the respiratory disease COVID-19, it is problematic to classify numbers of sick people and the corresponding risk potential in Sudan.
Consultation with a tropical medicine doctor should precede a stay in Sudan. From the Sudanese side, a yellow fever vaccination is mandatory for all travelers who come from yellow fever infection areas. Regardless of the country’s regulations, the World Health Organization (WHO) explicitly recommends yellow fever vaccination for all infection areas, ie for Sudan for all stays south of the 12th parallel, not for stays in Khartoum and the Sahara only. With yellow fever disease are expected especially in Darfur and Kordofan needs.
In addition to the standard vaccinations (with tetanus, diphtheria, etc.), further vaccination protection should also be checked. Measles is a problem in some regions of the country, most recently in Kordofan, and cases of polio have also been reported repeatedly in recent years. For malaria high risk of infection applies all year round in the central and southern parts of the country, especially in the rainy season from April to November. While Khartoum and Port Sudan are considered malaria-free, there is little risk for the north. There is a very high risk of infection with dengue fever, especially in the east of the country. Also Cholera outbreaks occur regularly.
To avoid diarrhea and more severe infectious diseases as far as possible, the rule of “cook it, peel it or forget it” has always proven its worth when handling food.
Current vaccination recommendations and health tips for Sudan are provided by the travel medical information service and the medical information from the Federal Foreign Office.
While medical care is very problematic in large parts of the country, Khartoum sometimes offers quite well-equipped hospitals and specialists, also for the medical care of children.
