Sudan promises to temporarily open the border with Chad, food aid is urgently needed

The Sudanese government says it will open the Adré border crossing with Chad for three months to bring more food aid into the country. As a result of the civil war that has been raging in the country since last April, more than half of the Sudanese population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

About 500,000 are displaced residents of Zamzam refugee camp in Sudan in great danger due to lack of food. This is evident from a report published recently by an international organization that monitors malnutrition around the world. The government’s humanitarian aid committee to deny then it is certain that there is famine in the camp.

There may be famine elsewhere in Darfur as well, but the war between the army and the rebels makes it impossible for aid groups to get a complete picture of this. According to the United Nations, at least 10.8 million Sudanese have fled. Two million of them have fled to neighboring countries such as Chad.

Aid groups have been raising the alarm for some time about major food shortages in Darfur, which is largely controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Earlier this month, Doctors Without Borders said rebels had been blocking trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Zamzam for weeks. Due to the lack of food, a child dies every two hours in the camp, said Doctors Without Borders.

According to the UN, all warring parties in Sudan are guilty of this gross violations of human rights. The group accuses both the government army and the RSF of starving the population by blocking humanitarian aid and looting trucks.

The announcement by the Sudanese government that the border crossing at Adré in Chad would be opened for three months would make it easier for aid supplies to reach the people in Darfur. It is not known whether the border will still be accessible after that.

The government has banned the delivery of aid through the border crossing since February because it would allow the RSF rebels to bring weapons into the country. According to the government, weapons from the United Arab Emirates have passed through the Adré crossing. Although RSF and the UAE strongly deny it, UN experts believe the allegation is credible.

The decision to open the border for three months comes a day after the start of US-led peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates will attend the talks. Delegations from the African Union and the UN are also part of the talks.

The Sudanese army had already announced a few days ago that they would boycott the peace talks and did not appear at the negotiating table yesterday. The US government says it is doing everything it can to bring warring parties to the table and end the 15-month war in Sudan.