Almost 500 days of misery in Sudan: Switzerland offers a glimmer of hope
Published: Wednesday, Aug 14th 2024, 05:50
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For years, the resource-rich Sudan in Africa was harassed by dictator Omar al-Bashir before he was deposed in a coup in 2019 following a popular uprising. The joy of the civilian population was short-lived and fell by the wayside in the power struggle. For 16 months now, two generals have been fighting for power, regardless of losses. Millions of people are displaced in their own country, millions are starving. In Switzerland, talks about a ceasefire are now supposed to enable better humanitarian aid, but the signs are bad.
Who fights
After several coups, the commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, wanted to share power. Al-Burhan became president, Daglo his deputy. However, the two men broke up in April 2023 due to their rivalry. Since then, both have been fighting with their troops for territorial supremacy. According to local residents, both sides are using brute force against civilians. They are accused of serious human rights violations.
The misery in numbers
Almost 26 million people are at risk of acute hunger, which is more than half of the population. According to UN analyses, 755,000 people are on the brink of famine. A famine has already been declared in the SamSam refugee camp in North Darfur with 500,000 refugees. 10.7 million people are on the run in the country, and more than two million others have fled across the borders to neighboring countries.
According to UN estimates, at least one hundred people die every day in Sudan as a result of hunger; at least 30 percent of children are considered to be acutely malnourished. In addition to the conflict, heavy rainfall and flooding have now destroyed houses and roads, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
The situation in the capital Khartoum
"The situation in Khartoum is indescribable and really terrible," says Khalid Mishain, spokesman for a youth NGO, who recently fled the largely destroyed capital. "Every day you hear about people who have been shot dead in their houses or apartments. Government forces are indiscriminately bombing residential areas in the neighborhoods where the RSF is in control."
On Saturday, a few children wanted to play football near Khartoum in an area declared "child-friendly" and forget their miserable everyday lives for a few hours. The horror came from the air, according to UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesman James Elder: A projectile hit the pitch, killing two boys and injuring all the others. Elder saw the children in a completely overcrowded hospital with bloodstained floors. The boys were in shock. None of them ever wanted to kick a football again.
Sexual violence and displacement
A senior nurse told Elder that she had cared for hundreds of women and girls who had been raped, including girls as young as eight years old. Mahmud Alzain reports something similar from the state of Sennar. He documents human rights violations there together with a group.
"There is a lot of looting and numerous sexual assaults against women and girls. We have also received reports of more than 100 cases of disappeared men who were abducted by the RSF." It is uncertain whether they are still alive. Fighters would shoot women, children and old people at random.
The situation in North Darfur
Hundreds of thousands of people in the embattled city of El Fascher are cut off from basic necessities. Residents report that there is hardly any food left. Some have made it to the overcrowded SamSam camp, but there is hardly any food there either, reports Yakoub, who recently managed to flee El Fascher. Many people have to camp out in the open despite the onset of the rainy season. "Children are dying of malnutrition, diarrhea and malaria," he reported.
Welthungerhilfe is ready to distribute 18,000 tons of food from the World Food Programme (WFP) in El Fascher, SamSam and surrounding villages, a spokeswoman said.
The precarious security situation
According to the UN, both sides are systematically obstructing the necessary humanitarian aid for the people. On the one hand, unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles are being erected to approve deliveries, and on the other, UN convoys with food are often stuck at checkpoints for days, said Mohamed Refaat, who coordinates aid for the UN Organization for Migration in Port Sudan. In addition, the United Nations lacks money, even for the people who could be reached: according to the UN, only a third of the 2.7 billion dollars (2.5 billion euros) needed for 2024 has been received.
The negotiations in Switzerland
The USA has invited representatives of the army and the RSF militia to negotiate a ceasefire at a secret location in Switzerland. The talks are to last at least until August 24 and create the conditions for more humanitarian aid to be brought into the country. The political future of Sudan is expressly not to be discussed, as the US Special Representative for Sudan, Tom Perriello, said in Geneva.
However, so far only the RSF militia has agreed to participate. Therefore, technical experts will first discuss the possibility of extending the humanitarian aid. However, this requires the agreement of both sides, as the aid organizations cannot risk the lives of their teams.
©Keystone/SDA
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