Fierce fighting in Sudan continues despite a ceasefire and promises of talks.
Thousands of foreign citizens have been evacuated – but there are still residents who have no choice but to stay.
– Even if we would like to escape from here, we have no possibility to do so, says the seller Victoria to the news agency Reuters.
Following the evacuation of thousands of foreign nationals, fighting in the Sudanese capital has intensified. There are still millions of Sudanese, who take shelter in their homes, fearing that a full-scale civil war will break out.
– We are psychologically damaged, every time we hear the fighting it feels like we are going to die, says 35-year-old Heba to the Reuters news agency.
Heba’s family had to leave their house when the paramilitary force RSF occupied it. The difficulty of getting food means that the family only eats once a day. Heba’s brother Hossam says the uncertainty is the worst.
– The noise never ends. The battles just go on and on, there is no relief.
“We have nothing”
Despite the fighting, many Khartoum residents have no choice but to go to work. The crisis causes the prices of essential goods to rise.
– I have to work to provide for the children. Even if we wanted to escape from here, we have no way to do so. We have nothing, says Victoria, who sells tea from a street stall.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese have managed to escape to neighboring countries. Egypt alone states that 40,000 came by water across Lake Nasser.
UNHCR warns of an upcoming mass exodus, of at least 800,000 people. According to Deputy Refugee Commissioner Raouf Mazou, these are 580,000 Sudanese citizens and another 220,000 who have sought refuge in Sudan due to ongoing conflicts in neighboring countries.
Agreed to call
At the same time, the UN agency Ocha warns that Sudan is at a humanitarian breaking point. Even before the current conflict, a third of the country’s 46 million inhabitants were in need of food aid.
The world organization wants to bring about peace negotiations that can enable full-scale aid shipments. UN special envoy Volker Perthes announced on Monday that the parties to the conflict have agreed to send representatives to talks.
Despite promises of a ceasefire, fighting continues in several Sudanese cities.