SUDAN: Since fierce fighting broke out between opposing forces on April 15, the UN reports that more than 100,000 people have fled Sudan. Officials have issued a “full-blown catastrophe” warning if the conflict does not stop.
334,000 people have been displaced, and fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is still taking place in Khartoum. To bring the warring sides to the bargaining table, diplomatic efforts are being stepped up.
The army and RSF agreed to a seven-day ceasefire beginning on May 4 and pledged to send delegates to negotiations. The UN’s Volker Perthes had earlier told the news agency that the two parties had agreed to negotiate a “stable and reliable” ceasefire. It was a day later that the UN made its announcement.
The Sudanese government is considering Saudi Arabia as the location for negotiations, which would be the first time the two sides have met since the conflict began. According to the health ministry, the conflict has claimed the lives of 500 people and injured 4,000 others.
The military has attempted to undermine the RSF through ceasefires, but they have all fallen apart. Khartoum is still being hit by airstrikes, and there is no independent verification of the paramilitary group’s allegation that it shot down a MiG fighter jet. Darfur has seen intense fighting.
The UN Agency for Refugees has reported 100,000 refugees from Sudan, South Sudanese citizens going back home, and those already refugees within the country escaping the war. Russia is deploying four military aircraft to carry out more than 200 individuals from Sudan, including its own citizens and those from “friendly countries”.
Food, water, and electricity are in short supply in Khartoum, but UN-delivered assistance supplies are being stored due to widespread looting. WHO regional director Ahmed al-Mandhari reports that health institutions have been attacked, and some are being used as military camps.
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is at risk of turning into a “full-blown catastrophe” after two weeks of violent fighting, according to Abdou Dieng, the UN’s human resources coordinator in Sudan. A third of the country’s population, or little under 16 million people, are in need of humanitarian aid, and 3.7 million individuals have already experienced internal displacement.
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