Even before a communications blackout hit Sudan two weeks ago, few were watching a war that has killed thousands of people and displaced more – almost 8 million – than any other current conflict. “It’s not a forgotten crisis. It’s a wholly ignored crisis,” Kitty van der Heijden of Unicef told a meeting at the Munich Security Conference last week.
Eighteen million people in Sudan are acutely food insecure, and around 3.8 million children are malnourished. At the Zamzam camp in Darfur, a child dies every two hours. There have been widespread atrocities including massacres and sexual violence. Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warns that “textbook ethnic cleansing” in Darfur – by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militias – has forced almost 700,000 to flee. Yet while the region’s genocidal violence became a global cause two decades ago, it barely registers now.
In just five years, Sudan has transitioned from dictatorship to revolution to coup – and then to civil war last April, when Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto leader and army chief, and Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), who controls the RSF, turned on each other. The International Crisis Group warns that what comes next could be de facto partition if not state disintegration. Not only are multiple players involved, but tensions in the Sudanese armed forces appear to have grown as the RSF has gained ground in recent months. Meanwhile, militias are beginning to mobilise against the RSF. There is concern that jihadist fighters may be drawn in.
Not only is global attention absorbed by the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, but the former is having a “catastrophic” effect on aid, as Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea slow deliveries of essential food and medicine, and drive up prices. In turn, the consequences of Sudan’s war are spilling over. Half a million people have fled to South Sudan, exacerbating the food crisis there; a million more have found shelter in Chad and Egypt.
While the generals unleashed this conflict, outside players sustain it. The UAE denies supplying arms, but its support for the RSF is well-known; Hemedti’s forces also have ties to the Wagner group. Egypt backs the Sudanese armed forces, though to a lesser extent. Many more are dabbling in this conflict. As Mr Egeland pointed out, there is a stark – and disgraceful – disparity between the wealth of resources employed to wage this war and the paucity of those to address its consequences. So far, the UN’s humanitarian response plan is less than 4% funded, with a $2.6bn shortfall.
While more money is desperately needed, the real solution is an end to this war. Despite contact – there are reports that the generals’ deputies met secretly last month – there is no sign of progress. Mediation efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional bloc have faltered. The African Union has played little part in talks, though it has now appointed a panel to look at peace efforts. The UN security council “does little beyond condemn attacks on civilians and call for access to humanitarian assistance”, relief agencies said this week. For the sake of Sudan and the region, it cannot keep looking away. The US and others must also press the outsiders who are fuelling this conflagration to step away.
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