Famine warning as conflict escalates in ravaged Sudan
Relentless violence has devastated Sudan and large-scale fighting has escalated in and around the only capital in its western Darfur region not held by paramilitary forces, the United Nations top humanitarian official says.
Acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the UN Security Council on Wednesday famine has already struck Zamzam camp, about 15km from North Darfur’s embattled capital of El Fasher. She said a large-scale humanitarian operation is “a matter of life and death”.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including Darfur. The UN says more than 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.
Msuya urged the council to demand that the warring government and paramilitary Rapid Support Force refrain from targeting civilians, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, and allow unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid through all border crossings and across conflict lines.
She also called on the UN’s 193 member nations to pressure the parties “to agree to a humanitarian pause to save lives, give civilians respite and allow us to deliver assistance”.
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.
That legacy appears to have returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan saying in January there are grounds to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Darfur.
In June, the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for “an immediate halt to the fighting and for de-escalation in and around El Fasher”.
Regrettably, Msuya said, both sides ignored the call, and fighting escalated in the past week with “constant and heavy” shelling and bombing.
“Civilians, especially women and children, have been hit (and) civilian sites and infrastructure – including hospitals and internally displaced persons’ camps – have been hit,” she said.
“Of the three main hospitals in El Fasher, only one is functioning, although only partially following an attack that caused extensive damage in August.”
In August, international experts confirmed there is famine in Zamzam camp, which houses around 500,000 displaced people.
Msuya said close to 1.7 million people in North Darfur face “acute food insecurity”, adding that 13 other localities in Sudan have been identified as at risk of famine.
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