– The extent of hunger is greater than what we have recorded in modern times. There has never been so much hunger in a country at one time, as what we are seeing in Sudan now, says Håkon Jakob Røthing of the Red Cross to Dagsavisen.
The time ahead would usually mark the start of the most important harvest season in Sudan, and with it several celebrations. But the war between the government army SAF and their former allies in the RSF militia, which has raged since April 2023, has also had enormous consequences for the country’s agriculture.
– This year there will be no celebration, says Røthing, who is head of international operations at the Red Cross.
The crisis in Sudan is referred to as the world’s largest refugee crisis. Over 14 million people are either internally displaced or on the run in other countries, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN has previously estimated that at least 14,000 people have been killed and over 33,000 injured in the war.
Over 25 million people are dependent on food aid from outside, and this summer famine was declared in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, western Sudan. It was the first time in over seven years that the UN declared a famine. It was also warned that other parts of Sudan risk the same if action is not taken.
– In terms of scale, it is the biggest famine the world has experienced in decades. It is very dramatic, says Røthing.
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Facts about the war in Sudan
- On 15 April 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum between the government army and their former allies in the RSF militia. On the same day, fighting broke out in Darfur in the west of the country.
- The conflict is between the country’s two top military leaders, both members of the military junta that has led the country since the coup in 2021: Army chief and junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his second-in-command, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is usually referred to as Hemetti.
- Before the fighting broke out, negotiations were underway to incorporate the RSF into the government army.
- The RSF was formed in 2013 from the Janjaweed militia and has fought on behalf of the regime in Khartoum in the Darfur region, where they are accused of extensive war crimes.
- Of the 14 million who have left their homes, 11 million are internally displaced, while 3.1 million have traveled to neighboring countries. The 14 million also include people who fled before the war broke out in April last year.
Source: NTB
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Declared famine in the west
Several strict criteria must be met before famine is declared. Among other things, at least 1 in 3 of all children must be acutely malnourished and at least 1 in 5 households must experience extreme food shortages.
– When famine happens, it means that we are too late. It means we didn’t do enough. It means that we, the world community, have failed, the head of the UN Office for Emergency Relief (OCHA), Edem Wosornu, firmly stated in August.
A recent UN report on famine warns of the risk of death in 16 regions in the coming months, writes NTB. It particularly highlights Gaza, Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Haiti. Conflict drives the most acute food insecurity in the areas analysed, according to the report.
It is precisely the conflict that must end in order to overcome the hunger crisis in Sudan, says Røthing.
– People may be hungry, there may be food insecurity and food shortages in many places in the world, but people do not die of hunger in our days without war.
Røthing points out that Sudan, with its approximately 50 million inhabitants, is a country that has undergone rapid development over several decades.
– But now it is experiencing a brutal war that has driven more than ten million people to flee. Half the population is hungry. It is so serious, and the need in Sudan is probably on a scale we have not seen in our millennium, continues Røthing.
The income of up to 60-80 percent of Sudan’s population is either linked to or involved in agriculture, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The war has caused great damage to the activity, in a country that was already severely affected by climate change.
Comment: The crisis in the shadow of crises
Several attacks against hospitals
In addition, there is the destruction of Sudan’s infrastructure, including the country’s health services. In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that almost 80 percent of all health facilities in Sudan were out of order. according to Doctors Without Borderswhich is also in place in the country, one of the hospitals they support has been attacked 12 times.
Røthing in the Red Cross says 100 direct attacks on health institutions have been verified, but that it is difficult to say the actual extent.
– The destruction in the national health system is on a scale we have not seen in our lifetime.
Gunnar M. Sørbø at the Chr. Michelsen Institute has worked with Sudan for over 50 years. He is concerned that people should understand how serious what is happening now is. He highlights the large number of people who have been driven from their homes, but also the war’s consequences for the health services.
– There are almost no hospitals that are operational, there is almost no medicine, there is little food, emergency help does not arrive. The warring parties have virtually closed off aid. People die not only from bullets and gunpowder, but also from diseases that could easily have been treated in hospital or with medicine, says Sørbø to Dagsavisen.
– There has been a lot of bombing by plane, assaults, sexual assaults, terror and torture. All in all, the situation is very dire.
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– No one to keep up with
The two main groups in the ongoing civil war are the RSF militia and Sudan’s army, the SAF. Both have been accused of war crimes, including attacking civilians and destroying emergency aid. A UN report shows that sexual violence is very widespread.
Why doesn’t anyone write about Sudan, asked the Secretary General of the Sudan Red Crescent, Aida Elsayed, in a recent interview with the journal Panorama.
– For us as Sudanese, it is a big and unanswered question why no one talks or writes about us. It is a terrible feeling when people are thrown out of their homes and have to flee the areas we come from, and then there is complete silence in the international public, said Elsayed.
Gunnar M. Sørbø believes that the two ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza are getting more attention because they are closer to us. But there is also another important point in Sudan:
– It is difficult because there is no one to support. There are two parties fighting each other. They have pushed aside those who were behind a genuinely popular revolution in 2019, and there are not many of us who have sympathy with any of the actors.
– There will not be a commitment for someone to win the war, says Sørbø.
In 2019, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was removed in a military coup after several months of demonstrations. In 2021, a new military coup led to the arrest of then Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and several other civilian members of the transitional government installed in 2019.
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From cooperation to war
The RSF militia and the SAF stood together to seize power in the country in 2021. There has been pressure to merge the two forces, but the generals were unclear about who would be in command.
– RSF will not disclose control. Among other things, they are in control of large gold mines in Western Sudan, says Sørbø.
The civil war is a showdown for both political and economic power, with no willingness to compromise, he explains. The two are also fighting for legitimacy and international support. The SAF claims to be the legitimate government of Sudan.
– What are the alternatives to the two?
– That is what is so despairing. Bashir, who ruled for a long time, not only established two armies, he was also an expert at dividing the political opposition. When the regime fell, the political landscape was very fragmented, with around 100 political parties and groupings, answers Sørbø.
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Win or lose
Sudan has been characterized by war and conflict ever since it became its own country in 1956, says Sørbø. He emphasizes how complex the situation is and how it affects the various groupings and their behaviour.
– It is more complicated militarily now than at the beginning, but not least it is a complicated political landscape. This means that we do not yet have the civilian political opposition that we could all try to provide support and isolate the military forces. At the same time, the two parties in the war are uncompromising. It is a win-or-lose war, as they see it, he says.
There is a real danger of the country splitting, believes the Sudan expert. It will have far-reaching consequences in the region, but also elsewhere. More migration to Europe is among the possible outcomes, in addition to criminal groups establishing themselves in Sudan.
Within Sudan, one must also not forget the ethnic dimension, with different groupings drawing support from different groups, says Sørbø.
– In my opinion, this dimension could have very long-term effects, regardless of whether a ceasefire or a peaceful solution is achieved over time. It has been a part of the wars for years, but is being reinforced and will remain. Ethnic contradictions will be serious for Sudan’s future.
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Difficult on the ground
Håkon Jakob Røthing in the Red Cross says they ask themselves what is possible for them in their work in Sudan. They have a dialogue with all parties and work to ensure that even in the midst of warfare, they will come forward to help civilians. He says they have managed to achieve a lot – employees and volunteers maintain the emergency aid. Nevertheless, they too have been attacked, and eight employees have been killed since the war broke out a year and a half ago.
From their people on the ground, he gets feedback on how staff and volunteers are trying to handle the situation.
– They are completely ordinary people; doctors, nurses, ambulance workers, pharmacists. Many are in their 30s and 40s, and have never experienced anything like this in their lifetime. Most people say that they try to focus on what they can do. They feel that they have the opportunity to contribute in a very difficult situation, but at the same time they are overwhelmed. They see people around them being killed or arrested, says Røthing, and continues.
– They feel both a responsibility to help people, but also a tremendous fear of how things will turn out for themselves. And what will happen to the family if they have to flee again, or if they are injured or killed. And then there is a tremendous impotence. They feel powerless.
Comment: The crisis in the shadow of crises
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Facts about Sudan
- Republic and Africa’s third largest country.
- Population 50,467,278
- In 2011, Sudan was divided into two, Sudan and South Sudan.
Source: UN, NTB
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