In Sudan, the situation is increasingly alarming. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on April 20 that between 10,000 and 20,000 Sudanese refugees had fled to Chad. In the media as on social networks, the figure worries.
On a viral post released the next day on the Facebook page “Le tchadanthropus-tribune”, the Internet user takes stock of the current situation in Sudan. Everything is correct… except for one detail. The photograph used to illustrate the article lacks context. 20 minutes explains why.
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To illustrate his remarks, the Facebook page uses the photograph of a crowd that seems to be in a camp. For example, several tents are visible in the background. According to the legend, we understand that it could be the “10,000 to 20,000 Sudanese refugees” who fled to Chad.
However, using a reverse image search, we find a trace of the same photo… but for a completely different subject. In January 2021, the independent non-governmental organization for the defense of the rights of the Sudanese people – The Sudanese Rights Group (Huqooq) – published an article with the following title : “Sudan confirms recent increase in the number of Ethiopian refugees”.
A bad illustration
We find on the article the exact same image. “More than 5,000 refugees from the Tigray region seek to enter Sudan through the Dima border area which is one kilometer from the Hamdayet reception centre,” the article explained. The same image can be seen on various other media, for example this article from November 2021 which also reported on thousands of Ethiopian refugees fleeing to Sudan.
Thanks to the different captions, we also understand that the photo was taken in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan by a photograph from Anadolu Agency – a Turkish press agency. In 2021, in Ethiopia, clashes broke out between the Ethiopian Federal Army and the forces of the Tigray Popular Liberation Front… forcing thousands of people to flee their country.
The worrying situation in Sudan
Two years later, Sudan – already weakened by political conflicts and an economic and health crisis – must in turn suffer fighting between the army and paramilitary forces. The current fighting has already displaced more than 330,000 people inside Sudan and more than 100,000 people have left the country. Since April 15, at least 550 people have been killed, mostly in Khartoum and Darfur.
Since this Thursday and until May 11, a truce has been granted for seven days. None of the previous truces had however been respected by the belligerents. According to the UN, the country is currently close to the “breaking point”.