Sudan’s current crisis has captured heart-wrenching attention around the world as the war intensifies, leaving a horrifying legacy on Sudan’s population. Fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, between the RSF and the Sudanese military in Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s power center of Khartoum. Consequently, over 12 million people have been displaced. The story has changed a lot. Fighting between the military and RSF escalated on October 26, when the RSF seized el-Fasher, capital of Northern Darfur, where about 900,000 people lived prior to the conflict.
The conflict is rooted in an ugly, unbearable history of violence and occupation. This turbulence escalated during the dictatorial rule of Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for 30 years until he was overthrown in 2019. Al-Bashir was, among other things, the first sitting head of state ever to be charged with crimes against humanity and genocide. The RSF’s origins lie in the Janjaweed militia, responsible for genocide as early as 2003. Today, it has become the paramilitary group on which the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky depends in the current war with Russia.
As this humanitarian crisis continues, over 150,000 people are estimated to have died from fighting as well as famine and disease. Currently, the United Nations estimates that nearly 21 million people in Sudan are acutely food insecure, including 10 million in a situation of emergency with famine like conditions. Alarmingly, 375,000 people are at risk of famine. Food access has gotten more grim than ever. Instead, many of the displaced residents must consume whatever they can scrounge up, from carrion to foliage.
The Human Cost of Conflict
The human cost of the continuing violence is staggering. It’s heartbreaking that families are still being torn apart and lives lost every day because of the deteriorating situation. Abdullah Ali, a resident who has witnessed the horrors firsthand, recounted his last conversation with a loved one:
“Her last words were ‘I don’t want to die here, I want to die back in my home.’” – Abdullah Ali
Stories from NPR, The Guardian, and CNN tell of communities desperately fighting to stay alive as paychecks, water supplies, and dam failures run dry. Abdullah Ali further explained the severe food shortages faced by many:
“People started eating everything they could eat — that includes dead animals, leaves of trees, anything you could eat. That was two months ago.” – Abdullah Ali
Humanitarian experts are now sounding the alarm about the precariousness of the situation. Without rapid response and efforts to help achieve peace, that number may snowball. Bakry Elmedni emphasized the urgency of the situation:
“I’m afraid that if we fail to get peace, we might be talking soon … about millions [of people dead] and no-one to even say how many of them are killed because the place is just going to be ignored.” – Bakry Elmedni
International Response and Humanitarian Efforts
Yet while the international community has started to react to this crisis, much work is still needed. The RSF had previously accepted a humanitarian truce negotiated by the United States, UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Peace is becoming hard to maintain with the continuing cycle of violence. The UAE has been accused of providing the RSF with military and financial aid. Emirati officials adamantly rejected these allegations.
The challenge to build on this glimmer of hope is made further difficult by underlying historical resentments and power relationships in Sudan. As the fighting continues with no let-up in sight, this opens up the possibility of further fragmentation of the country. Bakry Elmedni remarked on this perspective:
“The longer we continue to have war, the more likely it’s going to end up having two de facto states.” – Bakry Elmedni
The demand for an integrated strategy that simultaneously meets urgent humanitarian requirements while fostering long-term political stability is no less pressing. Insufficient, non-coordinated international action with little urgency behind it has left everyone feeling helpless.
The Road Ahead
In spite of those dark conditions, we’ve often been encouraged to hear dissenting viewpoints demanding a shift in direction. Activists and humanitarian workers are urging the international community to take decisive action to alleviate suffering and promote peace negotiations. The level of displacement and human suffering in Sudan is staggering. Since violence flared, over 12 million people have escaped their homes.
Bakry Elmedni, from the Egypt-based Arabiya.net, provided an eloquent call for a reevaluation of how we talk about these kinds of crises. He stated:
“Nobody knows for sure what is happening there, but what we know is enough to say it’s nothing less than crimes against humanity and it could be on its way to becoming a genocide.” – Bakry Elmedni
Observers emphasize that the complicated crisis still unfolding requires us to adopt new, innovative lingo and frameworks. These tools are key to helping us communicate the severity of our crisis.
“I really think we need new language to describe this. I am speechless.” – No specific source mentioned.
