Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

The United Nations warned in a statement today, Friday, that war and famine threaten to completely “destroy” Sudan in light of the heavy fighting that has been taking place in that country since April 15 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

“The war in Sudan is creating a humanitarian emergency of enormous proportions,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths. “This conflict, which is expanding, with its consequences of famine, disease and population displacement, threatens to devastate the entire country.”

Frivit expressed concern about the spread of violence in Sudan and pointed to particular concerns about the security of civilians in Gezira state, which is the country’s breadbasket.

“Hundreds of thousands of children suffer from acute malnutrition and are at risk of dying if left untreated,” he added.

According to the non-governmental organization ACLIAD, about 5,000 people died as a result of the war. But the real losses are probably higher than those that many regions of the country are completely cut off from the world and both sides refuse to report their losses.

In four months, more than 4.6 million people were displaced from their homes inside the country or fled to neighboring countries.

“The longer the fighting continues, the more devastating the consequences will be,” Griffiths said. “There is no food left in some areas, hundreds of thousands of children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and face an imminent risk of death if they do not receive treatment.”

A senior UN official noted that the fierce fighting that had engulfed the capital Khartoum and Darfur since mid-April had spread to Kordofan.

“In Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, food supplies are completely depleted, and clashes and roadblocks prevent humanitarian workers from reaching the starving population,” he added. The offices of humanitarian organizations were also looted and ransacked in Al-Fula, the capital of West Kordofan.

He added that he was “extremely concerned about the safety of civilians in Gezira State as the conflict approaches the Sudanese food basket.”

Griffiths said diseases such as measles, malaria, dengue fever and others are spreading across the country, with most people not receiving medical care after “the war has destroyed the healthcare sector and most hospitals are down.”

As the asylum of nearly a million Sudanese people in neighboring countries increases pressure on host communities, he said, “a prolonged conflict in Sudan could push the entire region into a humanitarian catastrophe.”

“The time has come for all those involved in this conflict to put the interests of the people of Sudan above the pursuit of power or resources,” he added.