LONDON: Britain and European Union countries led international calls Tuesday for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire” to end the devastating war in Sudan, as nations pledged more than 800 million euros in fresh humanitarian aid.
The international community also “stressed the necessity of preventing any partition of Sudan,” a statement at the end of a London conference said, as the conflict entered its third year.
The war erupted on April 15, 2023 in a bitter power struggle between rival generals leading Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Neither of the strongmen, whose forces have been both accused of atrocities, were present for the London talks which gathered ministers from some 15 countries, and high-level representatives from international bodies such as the United Nations.
More than 13 million people have been uprooted and tens of thousands killed in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises.
“We simply cannot look away,” the UK’s foreign minister David Lammy said as he opened the talks.
“We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country, and to put peace first,” he said.
Various peace efforts have so far failed to lead to a ceasefire.
But Lammy said it was “morally wrong” to give up on Sudan “when we see so many civilians beheaded, infants as young as one subjected to sexual violence, more people facing famine than anywhere else in the world.”
The continued fighting has fueled fears the tensions will spill over Sudan’s borders and stir further instability in the impoverished Horn of Africa region.
And the final statement “underscored that the non-interference by outside actors remains paramount.”
It also “rejected any plans, including any announcement of parallel governments, that risk the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Sudan.”
“There can be no military solution in Sudan, only an immediate, unconditional secession of hostilities,” warned the African Union’s commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye earlier in the day, urging inclusive peace talks.
A UN-backed assessment has concluded that famine is now blighting parts of the country.
Britain’s foreign ministry said more than 30 million people were in desperate need, and 12 million women and girls were in danger of gender-based violence.
Lammy unveiled 120 million pounds (140 million euros) in new aid for Sudan, with the EU pledging more than 522 million euros ($591 million) to address the crisis, and Germany putting up some 125 million euros.
France also announced an extra 50 million euros in humanitarian aid this year.
“How can we forget the world’s largest humanitarian crisis?” asked German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
During a visit to a refugee camp, she said she heard “horrific reports of women and children being raped” and of people dying of hunger.
Germany and France as well as the European Union and the 55-member African Union co-hosted the conference with the British government in London. The United States and Saudi Arabia were also said to be attending.
Sudan’s government has protested that it was not invited, soliciting a rebuke from Khartoum.
But the German foreign ministry said both the Sudanese army and the RSF militia were unwilling to come to the table.
Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the paramilitary forces with arms shipments. Those fighters and the Gulf state deny the charges.
In a statement Tuesday, the UAE issued “an urgent call for peace” and accused both sides of “committing atrocities.” It said a senior foreign ministry official would attend the London conference.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stressed “the unity of Sudan must be preserved” and there could be no unilateral government imposed on civilians.
The conflict pits the regular army of Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo after relations between the two men soured following a 2021 coup.
That coup ousted a fragile transitional government put in place following the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar Al-Bashir.
The RSF are rooted in Darfur and control much of its territory, as well as parts of Sudan’s south.
The army reclaimed the capital Khartoum last month, and holds sway in the east and north, leaving Africa’s third-largest country divided in two.