Sudan’s civil war has been ongoing since April 2023 and is mainly rooted in a conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At least 15,500 people have been killed in the war, but the death toll is feared to be much higher.
Over 8.6 million people are internally displaced in Sudan and two million have sought protection in neighboring countries, according to UN figures.
“Systematic violence”
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides emergency care in Sudan and in Sudan’s neighboring countries. Based on testimonies from war victims, the medical aid organization raises the alarm about the inhuman nature of war.
– In refugee camps and in detention centers, patients tell of forced evictions, sabotage, arbitrary arrests, torture and sexual violence carried out on a systematic level. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable, says Vickie Hawkins, Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders Netherlands.
All warring parties are accused of violence against civilians. Ethnically motivated violence is reported in the Darfur region and the UN has assessed the risk of genocide as high.
Regime rule and ethnic tensions
Ethnic antagonisms are also partly the basis of the war’s conflict. After decades of authoritarian rule, former president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a military coup in 2019.
Subsequently, steps were taken towards democracy but divisions within Sudan’s military led to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebelling and attacking Sudanese government forces more than a year ago.
Demanding an end to the war
Since the beginning of the war, the UN and several aid organizations have called for an end to the fighting. The humanitarian situation is judged to be catastrophic and worsened by a spreading famine. 25.6 million people are in need of humanitarian aid to survive, according to the United Nations.
On July 19, the United States decided to push for an additional $203 million in humanitarian disaster relief. The country’s UN ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield believes that the war in Sudan cannot continue to be met by the world with silence.
– This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, says Linda Thomas Greenfield.