Humanitarian Crisis in Central Darfur: Urgent Appeal for International Help

“Central Darfur is a humanitarian desert,” says Christos Hristu, director of the “Doctors Without Borders” aid group, about the outcome of the war in Sudan that began a year ago. The conditions in the refugee camps in one of the most affected areas are dire – there is a lack of water, food and other supplies. The sanitary conditions are also disastrous. Hristu appealed to the international community on the X platform to provide more help.

About 18 million people are hungry, the United Nations World Food Program announced a few weeks ago. Most of them are in areas that are almost inaccessible to NGOs. The threat of a humanitarian disaster is great.

Both the military and politicians are to blame for the violence

Since last April, two main armed groups have been at war in Sudan – the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the “Rapid Reaction Forces” (RSF), as well as several affiliated militias and separatist formations. . The conflict started when the head of the RSF Mohamed Hamdan Daglo refused to submit his units to the orders of the SAF, even though this was agreed in negotiations.

But several civilians are also contributing to the violence, journalist Osman Mirgani told DV. Despite the framework agreement completed in December 2022, some politicians want to enforce their interests at any cost, which is why they contacted armed groups the country. “Unfortunately, all political parties try to keep their power in every way, including the cost of war,” said Mirgani.

Systematic destruction of food products

In the name of their intentions, it seems that the two countries do not take into account the risk of a humanitarian disaster, said Marina Peter, who studies Sudan, to DV. Because of the fighting and its consequences, the villagers in many parts of the country can no longer grow anything. Furthermore, in traditionally fertile regions such as the Jazira and the White Nile, crops and other foodstuffs are being deliberately destroyed. The RSF, for example, deliberately set fire to grain warehouses in areas under their control. And access to humanitarian aid is also deliberately blocked.

International influence

In addition to this there are international interests in the war, says Marina Peter. Egypt, for example, supports the SAF regular army. “The government in Cairo is very skeptical about the possibility of a peaceful revolution and the creation of a civilian government of Sudan. It maintains the same type of government that it has in Egypt, ie a military leadership with a democratic face.” Meanwhile, there are fears that the conflict could spread to Egypt.

According to Peter, the SAF recently gained a new partner – Iran. “They have established very strong links there. At the same time, they are also receiving drones from them.”

The United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, is betting on the RSF and its leader, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. “There are a lot of gold deposits in Sudan,” Patrick said. Most of the sales are made through the UAE, and the RSF has long established an agency to export them. and carrying the precious metal. In addition, the UAE is a strong opponent of political Islam and wants at all costs to prevent a prominent Islamist from coming to power in Sudan again. The RSF also receives weapons from the UAE, Peter explains.

They are delivered, including through Libya, work that was carried out until the summer of last year by the Russian private army Yevgeny Prigozhin “Wagner”. After his death in August, the group has a new name in Africa – the “African Corps”, after German Marshal Erwin Rommel’s army of the same name in Libya during the Second World War. His job was to bring the British and French colonies in Africa under control. Russian mercenaries also seem to want to expand their country’s influence in the region. “Since 2017, Russia has wanted to build a naval base on the Red Sea – ie on a major global trade route between Europe and Asia,” Tageszeitung wrote in March.

An end to the conflict is increasingly impossible

The conflict is unlikely to end in the near future, according to political scientist Hager Ali. It seems that the two warring parties can no longer contain the violence because some of their leadership structures have broken down. Other groups are already on the way to free themselves from the leaders at the local level and they want to use the war for their own interests.

The international context also does not suggest the end of the war, says Ali. Sudan is surrounded by major arms smuggling hubs. “Fuel, ammunition, weapons and other goods are imported through Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic and through the Red Sea. Weapons are also coming from Uganda and South Sudan. The UAE and the Wagner Group are working closely together to provide weapons. for the war through these countries.”

The governments of Norway, other Western countries and the EU issued an appeal on the first anniversary of the war, asking the warring parties to end the fighting and agree to a truce.

Kniep Kersten | Hassan Emad