In Sudan, the forgotten crisis

Photo: Amaury Falt-Brown Agence-France-Presse Women walk in a war-torn neighborhood in Omdurman on November 2.

Mathieu Carbasse back from Cairo

Published at 0:00

• Africa

On April 15, 2023, the conflict between the soldiers of General al-Burhan and the militias of General “Hemetti,” the two senior officers who are vying for power, set Sudan on fire and plunged the country into a serious humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of civilians have already lost their lives, and 11 million people have been forced into exile. The chances of a ceasefire have diminished this week, with Russia blocking a UN Security Council resolution. Yet there is urgency.

Um Alhasan and her husband, Mohamed, took only 20 minutes to leave their home in Omdurman, on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, when men loyal to General “Hemetti” came knocking on their door. They barely had time to gather their daughters, aged 22, 7 and 4, and to gather a few personal belongings.

“When I heard the knock at the door, I knew what was in store for us. If we stayed there, they would kill us and probably rape our daughters afterwards,” explains the 40-year-old mother, who Le Devoirmet her in Cairo, where she and her family members sought asylum. After a long journey through the desert, they finally managed to reach southern Egypt, then Cairo, where they earned a living from odd jobs.

And even though they now have to start all over again, Um Alhasan, her husband and children know that they have escaped the worst. Because in Sudan today, unprecedented violence is tearing the country apart, and half the population, some 25 million people, need humanitarian aid.

Photo: Mathieu Carbasse Le Devoir Um Alhasan (left) and her family members sought asylum in Egypt. After a long journey through the desert, they managed to reach Cairo, where they earn a living from odd jobs.

“Sudan is trapped in a nightmare,” the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, recently stated. Before the Security Council, she was reacting to the new outbreak of violence in recent weeks, which is particularly affecting the state of Al-Jazirah.

Last October was indeed the deadliest month in Sudan since April 15, 2023, the date of the start of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the Rapid Support Forces of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as “Hemetti”. Unable to agree on the integration of paramilitary forces into the army, the two senior officers have been fighting for power since the overthrow in 2019 of dictator Omar al-Bashir, who reigned unchallenged for nearly 30 years. Since April 2023, this discord has followed the turn of a deadly conflict.

While the clashes have already killed 24,000 people, according to the United Nations (these figures are largely underestimated, according to several studies and several observers present on the ground), they have also forced 11 million inhabitants into exile.

Eight million people have been displaced within the country, and more than 3 million are now gathering in neighboring countries: 1 million in Chad, 1 million in South Sudan and more than 1.1 million in Egypt. So many countries that are already facing their share of internally displaced persons and do not have the means to accommodate additional refugees.

To make matters worse, Russia on Monday vetoed a draft resolution prepared by the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone that called for a ceasefire and the protection of civilians in Sudan. The veto has prevented any deployment of UN agencies on the ground for now.

A famine not seen in 20 years

“We are facing the largest displacement crisis in the world,” says Mary Lupul, Save the Children's humanitarian operations director in Sudan. Of the 11 million people forced from their homes, 5.8 million are children under 17, nearly half of whom are under 5.”

Having been in Khartoum for several months, Ms Lupul cannot help but note the scale of the crisis unfolding before her eyes. Because millions of displaced people mean a severe food crisis, in a country already plagued by malnutrition problems exacerbated by the civil war. The World Food Programme now considers the situation in Sudan to be the world’s largest food crisis.

“This is the first time in 20 years that the IPC 5 famine category has been reached. This is the highest phase of the acute food insecurity scale. This means that in Sudan, at least one person or household in five (20%) is suffering from extreme lack of food and is facing famine and destitution, which is leading to extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death,” she explains.

In a country where public services no longer exist, 80% of hospitals are no longer functional, and in those that are, there is a lack of medical equipment and medicines. Recently, cholera has returned in force in Sudan, where 20,000 cases were recorded between July and October, while access to drinking water is very limited.

Photo: Photos provided Um Alhasan's house in Sudan was destroyed by militiamen loyal to General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.

But what also makes the humanitarian worker despair are the 19 million children who have been deprived of school since April 2023.

“There is an entire generation in Sudan that has not been to school for 19 months. However, studies show that the longer a child is kept away from school, the harder it will be for them to return,” says the director.

Russia dashes hopes of a ceasefire

On the political front, while the Russian veto of the Security Council’s draft resolution has killed hopes of a rapid ceasefire, it also signals Moscow’s rapprochement with General al-Burhane’s camp.

Already established in Africa thanks to the defunct Wagner militia, now called Africa Corps, Russia has been trying for several years to establish itself in Sudan to realize a project for a Russian naval base on the Red Sea, where a third of the world’s cargo traffic passes through. containers.

“Russia has two interests in having imposed its veto. The first is to secure a foothold in Sudan logistically, to continue selling weapons and possibly have a military base there,” explains Nicolas Klingelschmitt, a research fellow on Africa at the Centre for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal.

“More broadly, Russia also wants to make new allies or strengthen its alliances on the continent,” the researcher suggests.

“There are many attempts at regional management of the conflict, but the political, economic and military interests of non-African actors risk prolonging it,” he summarizes, also recalling the support of the United Arab Emirates for General Hemetti’s Rapid Support Forces.

This report was funded with support from the international journalism Transat-Le Devoir.

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