A UN mission in Sudan on Tuesday described the situation in the war-torn country as “a crisis of humanity”.
Sudan has been gripped by more than two years of war between its army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and efforts by international mediators to halt the fighting have so far failed.
“Let me be clear, what is happening in Sudan is not only a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity itself,” Mona Rishmawi, an expert member of the United Nations’ fact-finding mission, said in a statement.
Rishmawi spoke of “widespread” sexual violence, children dying of hunger and blocked humanitarian aid.
“While the bombs and bullets dominate the headlines in Sudan, a quieter but more brutal, perhaps, war is being waged on the bodies of women, girls and marginalised communities,” she added in comments to reporters.
Since April 2023, the war in Sudan has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the RSF.
The conflict has led to tens of thousands of deaths and to the displacement of 14.3 million people, making Sudan the world’s largest forced displacement situation, according to the UN refugee agency.
The UN mission described the increasing use by both sides of heavy weapons in populated areas.
“Civilians continue to pay the highest price,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, speaking of an “increasingly complex, brutal” conflict.
According to the mission, both sides are manipulating humanitarian aid.
“Hunger itself is being used as a weapon. Humanitarian aid, as we just heard, is not simply blocked. It is deliberately manipulated,” Rishmawi said.
Despite Sudan’s refusal to allow access inside the country, the mission continues its investigative work, which includes compiling a confidential list of perpetrators of abuses.
AFP
