More than 50,000 people have been newly displaced in Sudan's Kordofan regions since late October as fighting intensifies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Friday, saying civilians are fleeing in fear rather than by choice.

"People in Sudan are not moving by choice, they are running just to find safety," said Mohamed Refaat, chief of mission in Sudan for the International Organization for Migration, speaking from Port Sudan to journalists in Geneva.

Refaat said displacement in the Kordofan is being driven by escalating violence, with residents fleeing towns including Babanousa, Kadugli and El-Obeid.

He cited reports that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied fighters from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North shelled residential buildings in Dilling, South Kordofan, over the past 48 hours.

Women and children

The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023, following the collapse of a transition toward civilian rule. On October 26, RSF forces overran Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after a 500-day siege, triggering mass displacement and leaving civilians trapped with little access to food.

Refaat said many of those now fleeing are women and children, particularly those arriving in White Nile and Gedaref states.

He also warned of a rapidly deteriorating situation in Kadugli, where drone attacks last week killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the UN force in Abyei.

If the fighting continues, "we estimate 90,000 to 100,000 people could be displaced" from Kadugli alone, he said, adding that El-Obeid could be "one or two steps" away from a similar assault, potentially affecting more than half a million people.

The IOM official also warned that severe funding cuts have forced the agency to reduce operations, saying it has lost $83 million this year.

"We have to choose which lives we can save," he said, calling on states to urgently step up support for Sudan's civilians.