‘Catastrophic’ escalation in Sudan likely

The United Nations’ top humanitarian affairs officials have called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities in Sudan, where rival factions in the military government have been fighting for a year and where an attack on the city of El Fasher is reportedly imminent.

About 8,00,000 people in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, are in “extreme and immediate danger,” UN aid operations director, EdemWosornu, told the UN Security Council earlier this week, as she reported that clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are nearing El Fasher.

Fighting between the two groups has intensified in recent weeks, forcibly displacing an estimated 40,000 people. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday that the security situation in North Darfur had left more than a dozen aid trucks with relief supplies for 1,22,000 people stranded in neighboring Northern state, unable to proceed into the only capital city in Darfur that is not controlled by RSF.

“A patchwork of armed actors, including the Darfur Joint Protection Forces, the SAF, and the RSF control different parts of the El Fasher area,” Human Rights Watch reported this week. “Tense calm alternating with episodic fighting has prevailed for months.”

Since April 14, when RSF began to push into El Fasher, at least 43 people—including women and children—have been killed due to fighting between the SAF and RSF. “Civilians are trapped in the city, afraid of being killed should they attempt to flee,” said SeifMagango, spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk. “This dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies as deliveries of commercial goods and humanitarian aid have been heavily constrained by the fighting, and delivery trucks are unable to freely transit through RSF-controlled territory.”

The lack of humanitarian aid in North Darfur has pushed the state toward a famine, with one child dying of starvation every two hours, according to a February report by Doctors Without Borders.

In December, the US State Department announced an $85 million sale of radar and other military equipment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which The New York Times reported last year has been covertly supporting the RSF. US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) proposed a joint resolution to block arms sales to the UAE in January, in light of its support for the paramilitary group.

Omar was among several lawmakers who wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week, urging them to “deliver urgently-needed humanitarian assistance” and to help end the hostilities. Sudanese-Australian writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied urged Americans on Friday to pressure lawmakers and the White House to take more action. “There is a tiny window of opportunity for us to find a way to get the UAE... to make the RSF to stop in their tracks,” said Abdel-Magied. “Maybe there’s a way that we can avoid this massacre.”

OCHA called on the warring parties to “take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations.”

“They must, to the extent possible, avoid locating military installations within or near densely populated areas, including towns and camps for internally displaced people,” said the office. “It is also imperative that the parties allow safe passage for civilians to leave El Fasher for safer areas.” (https://www.commondreams.org/)

The situation in Sudan has been dire since war broke out approximately a year ago. The war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, triggered by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

After the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan was transitioning to civilian-led democracy. However, a coup staged by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo disrupted this transition. An internationally backed Framework Agreement in December 2022 aimed to integrate the RSF into the army, but tensions escalated between the two forces.

The conflict has resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis. Violent clashes have claimed nearly 16,000 lives and displaced millions of people. Approximately 25 million people in Sudan require humanitarian assistance, with over 14 million of them being children. The crisis is unfolding rapidly, and the needs are unprecedented.

As of now, diplomatic efforts have failed to end the crisis. Thousands of desperate people continue to flee the country daily. The United Nations has warned of a “full-blown catastrophe” if the fighting does not cease. In summary, Sudan is facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory, with civilians caught in the crossfire of a power struggle between military forces. The situation remains critical, and urgent international attention is needed to alleviate the suffering and address the crisis effectively. If you’d like more detailed information.