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On the morning of April 15, 2023, residents of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, faced the shock of fighting breaking out in their city, which rapidly spread to other parts of the country.
Two years later, the war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a multitude of armed groups and militias allied to these forces has led to the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
An estimated 12.9 million people have fled their homes; half the country’s population faces acute hunger, and famine is spreading.
Innumerable abuses have been committed by all parties involved, shattering lives of tens of millions, while tens of thousands of civilians have died.
Since the beginning of Sudan’s conflict, we’ve been ringing alarm bells about the crisis, again and again, and highlighting the international community’s failure to address it.
As the war rages on and some displaced people return to Khartoum, images are emerging confirming massive destruction of civilian infrastructure: “We came back to Khartoum to find it in ruins. We found out that people are using a playground nearby as a graveyard because they couldn’t bury their loved ones properly in the cemetery”, a woman told HRW.
Meanwhile, civilians are still under attack. This grim anniversary takes place as horrific attacks unfold in El Fasher and the Zamzam displacement camp, where around half a million people have been sheltering and where famine has been underway since August.
This is a disaster foretold by many. Today, world leaders are gathering in London for a conference on the dire situation in Sudan, co-hosted by the United Kingdom, the European Union, France, and Germany.
They should urgently act to rein in abusive forces attacking civilians in and around El Fasher. More generally, HRW has three key recommendations:
- Leaders should work to protect civilians – including through the deployment of a mission to protect civilians – and guarantee safe, unfettered aid provision.
- The existing arms embargo on Darfur should be expanded to the rest of Sudan. The UN should also hold violators of this embargo to account, as warring parties have acquired apparently new foreign-made equipment.
- Impunity for the crimes in Sudan has led abusive forces to commit even more grave crimes. Justice efforts through various international and national avenues should be encouraged by all countries involved.
Given the scale of death and suffering – as demonstrated by the current events in Zamzam – something must be done.
Governments can – and should – relieve some of Sudan’s suffering.
