Famine used as weapon in Sudan war

UN Special Rapporteurs Warn Famine Is Imminent, More Than 25 Million People Need Urgent Aid

People line up to register for aid at a displacement camp in Agari, North Kordofan, last week. Photograph: Guy Peterson/AFP/Getty Images

Sudan The country plunged into chaos last April, when simmering tensions between the country's military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

In 14 months of fighting, more than 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured, according to the UN, but human rights activists believe the toll could be much higher.

There have been widespread reports of sexual violence and other atrocities that human rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict has caused the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people forced to flee their homes.

“The two SAFs [Sudanese armed forces] “The RSF is using food as a weapon and starving civilians,” the experts said. “The scale of hunger and displacement we are seeing in Sudan “Today is unprecedented and never seen before.”

Neither the army nor RSF responded to phone calls seeking comment.

Experts have warned that famine is imminent, with humanitarian aid blocked and the harvest season disrupted by the war. They say more than 25 million civilians in Sudan and those who have fled the country are suffering from hunger and need urgent humanitarian assistance.

A report by the Clingendael Institute think tank said last month that around 2.5 million people in Sudan could starve to death by the end of September, with around 15% of the population in the Darfur and Kordofan regions likely to be worst affected.

Independent experts said local efforts to respond to the food crisis in Sudan have been hampered by unprecedented violence and targeted attacks on civil society and local responders. Dozens of local activists and volunteers have been arrested, threatened and prosecuted in recent weeks, they said.

“The deliberate targeting of aid workers and local volunteers has undermined aid operations, putting millions of people at increased risk of starvation,” they said. “Local responders are risking their health and lives as they work on multiple fronts.”

They urged both sides to “stop blocking, looting and exploiting humanitarian aid.”

The experts are part of the UN Special Procedures, which is the largest body of independent experts within the organization's human rights system.

Fighting has been concentrated in recent months around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, trapping hundreds of thousands of civilians. At least 143,000 people have been forced to flee the city in the past three months, according to the UN.

The UN Security Council demanded earlier this month that the RSF immediately end its siege of the town, the army's last stronghold in the vast Darfur region.

© 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliates.