The one-year anniversary of the conflict in Sudan will come up on April 15 but it is far from good news. Reports by the UN Refugee Agency are warning that 25 million people are facing a humanitarian crisis which only threatens to get worse.
According to UN statistics, the number of displaced people has “now surpassed 8.5 million people, with 1.8 million of them crossing borders. UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado said that over 13,000 people are reported to have been killed, thousands more injured, and attacks on civilians, and conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence continue unabated.
“Sudan has experienced the almost complete destruction of its urban middle class: architects, doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers, and students have lost everything,” Sarrado said.
“Access constraints, security risks and logistical challenges are hampering the humanitarian response. Without incomes, and amid disrupted aid deliveries and harvests, people cannot get food, prompting warnings of worsening hunger and malnutrition in parts of the country,” she added.
The crisis in Sudan could affect neighbouring South Sudan where a large number of Sudanese refugees have fled. Experts warn that South Sudan’s economy is on the brink of collapse. According to an Africa News report, one of the country’s key oil pipelines which transits through Sudan is now damaged. Oil accounts for 95% of South Sudan’s revenues.
Talks in Jeddah between the army led by General Burhan and the paramilitary force known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Dagalo and mediated by the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have so far yielded little result. According to a VOA report the United States is believed to be eyeing April 18 for the potential resumption of Sudan peace talks in Jeddah.
Tom Perriello, U.S. special envoy for Sudan, that these talks need to be “inclusive,” and involve the African Union, the East African bloc IGAD, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
“We need the partners in the room who are necessary to get this war to end,” he said.
