LONDON: Western countries including Britain, the United States, France and Germany on Friday urged both sides in war-torn Sudan to let in “urgently required” aid to millions of people in dire need.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian assistance.
“The two sides’ systematic obstruction of local and international humanitarian efforts is at the root of this famine,” European and North American nations said in a joint statement.
The countries asked for movement restrictions on the Adre border crossing from Chad, where the United Nations says it has trucks waiting, to be lifted.
It also called for “all possible cross-border routes” to be opened “without impediment,” which both warring sides previously committed to.
“We condemn that, despite the overwhelming urgency, both SAF and RSF persist in obstructing the humanitarian response,” they said in the declaration, signed by the European Commissioner for Crisis Management.
“An immediate and coordinated scale-up of assistance, together with full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to populations in need, is urgently required to mitigate the large-scale loss of life,” they added.
The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and forced more than 11 million people to flee their homes, including nearly three million now in other countries, according to the United Nations.
Around 26 million people face severe food insecurity, with famine declared in the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Several rounds of negotiations have so far failed to put an end to the conflict.
Western nations urge Sudan warring sides to let in aid
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Western nations urge Sudan warring sides to let in aid
- “The two sides’ systematic obstruction of local and international humanitarian efforts is at the root of this famine,” European and North American nations said
- The countries asked for movement restrictions on the Adre border crossing from Chad, where the United Nations says it has trucks waiting, to be lifted
Syrian refugee returns set to slow as donor support fades
- Some aid officials say Syria is one of the first crises to be hit by aid funding cuts because the end of the war means it no longer counts as an emergency, eligible for priority funding
GENEVA: More than 3 million Syrians have returned home since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s rule a year ago but a decline in global funding could deter others, the UN refugee agency said on Monday.
Some 1.2 million refugees in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people have gone back home following the civil war that ended with Assad’s overthrow, but millions more are yet to return, according to UNHCR.
The agency said much more support was needed to ensure the trend continues.
“Syrians are ready to rebuild – the question is whether the world is ready to help them do it,” said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi. Over 5 million refugees remain outside Syria’s borders, mostly in neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.
RISK OF REVERSALS
Grandi told donors in Geneva last week that there was a risk that those Syrians who are returning might even reverse their course and come back to host states.
“Returns continue in fairly large numbers but unless we step up broader efforts, the risk of (reversals) is very real,” he said.
Overall, Syria’s $3.19 billion humanitarian response is 29 percent funded this year, according to UN data, at a time when donors like the United States and others are making major cuts to foreign aid across the board.
The World Health Organization sees a gap emerging as aid money drops off before national systems can take over.
As of last month, only 58 percent of hospitals were fully functional and some are suffering power outages, affecting cold-chain storage for vaccines.
“Returnees are coming back to areas where medicines, staff and infrastructure are limited – adding pressure to already thin services,” Christina Bethke, Acting WHO Representative in Syria, told reporters.
The slow pace of removing unexploded ordnance is also a major obstacle to recovery, said the aid group Humanity & Inclusion, which reported over 1,500 deaths and injuries in the last year. Such efforts are just 13 percent funded, it said.
Some aid officials say Syria is one of the first crises to be hit by aid funding cuts because the end of the war means it no longer counts as an emergency, eligible for priority funding.
Others may have held back as they wait to see if authorities under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa make good on promises of reform and accountability, including for massacres of the Alawite minority in March, they say.
