SungAh Lee, International Organisation for Migration: Sudan needs us
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“I saw the damage, the loss. The buildings being destroyed, the infrastructure being completely damaged in that area. And it was sad and heartbreaking.”
Waihiga Mwaura speaks to SungAh Lee, from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) about the war in Sudan which has entered its fourth year and has led to one of the worst humanitarian crisis and biggest displacements of people.
SungAh Lee recently travelled to Sudan to assess the situation on the ground. She tells us how it felt to return to parts of the country she had spent time in as a child. She explains how current conflicts are changing migration patterns and what impact cuts to government aid budgets are having on people effected by war.
Thank you to the Focus on Africa team in its help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with the head of UNAids Winnie Byanyima, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris, and UN chief Antonio Guterres. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Waihiga Mwaura Producer: Cordelia Hemming Editor: Farhana Haider
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(Image: SungAh Lee Credit: IOM/ Muse Mohammed)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Hello, I'm Wahigamwaura, presenter of Focus on Africa, |
| 0:10.8 | and this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:14.1 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:17.9 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:23.7 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:28.5 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:32.0 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:34.7 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:38.8 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:42.5 | For this interview, I speak to Sung Ali from the International Organization for Migration, |
| 0:48.5 | where she is Deputy Director General for Management and Reform. |
| 0:52.8 | She recently traveled to Sudan, where the war has entered its fourth year. |
| 0:58.8 | As the Civil War in Sudan enters its fourth year, |
| 1:02.1 | donors are meeting in Berlin to discuss ways to mobilize aid and revive peace talks. |
| 1:08.3 | Sudan is burning. |
| 1:10.4 | Three years of a shattering war has left one of Africa's |
| 1:13.8 | ancient nations on the brink of collapse. Tens of thousands are killed and millions are |
| 1:20.5 | forced out of their homes. Sudan civil war erupted in 2023 between the army and a paramilitary group that rapid support forces, |
| 1:30.0 | with its roots in the notorious Janjaweed militia. |
| 1:33.9 | The conflict has seen human suffering on a huge scale, with 65% of the population in need of food, |
| 1:41.0 | water, shelter and medicine. |
... |
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