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Humanitarian aid agencies urge for immediate end to hostilities in Sudan

Humanitarian agencies have called today for an immediate cessation to hostilities in Sudan and urged the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to ensure safe access for medical workers and ambulances so they can bring assistance to the wounded.

The violence, which erupted Saturday, raged for a third day through Monday, with the death toll increasing to at least 185 people, said the United Nations (UN) at a briefing in Geneva. The power struggle between Sudan's army and the paramilitary group known as the RSF broke out just as the country was poised to transition towards civilian rule.

“Much of the fighting has been concentrated in heavily populated parts of the capital, Khartoum, and other residential areas or cities elsewhere in the country,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “This fighting has featured air strikes and artillery shelling including use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects which exposes residents to risk of death and injury."

Mr. Magango quoted High Commissioner Volker Türk, who said that “the fighting is borne out of power games and personal interests that only serve to alienate the democratic aspirations of the population.”

According to the UN Human Rights Office, since fighting began, 1,800 people have been wounded, and thousands of civilians are trapped in their homes. They have no electricity and risk running out of food, drinking water and medicine, OHCHR said.

Ten UN agencies and more than 80 NGOs have been running a total of over 250 programmes in the country.

“The truth is that at the moment it is almost impossible to provide any humanitarian services in and around Khartoum,” said Farid Aiywar, Head of Delegation in Sudan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “There are calls from various organizations and people trapped asking for evacuation. For the past four days, people have been out of water, food. Electricity has been rationed and in some places, totally disconnected.”

The UN have been forced to temporarily halt much of its programming due to the fighting.

Crossfire at Khartoum airport also reportedly damaged a UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) plane which could seriously impact the UN’s ability to access remote parts of Sudan where needs are highest.

“We have thousands of volunteers who are ready, able and trained to perform humanitarian services. Unfortunately, due to the current situation they are not able to move,” said IFRC’s Farid Aiywar. “We have ambulances, we have people who are able to provide first aid, psychosocial support, but that will only be possible once that humanitarian corridor is assured by all parties.”

Nearly one third of the Sudanese population - or almost 16 million people – were in need of humanitarian aid at the start of this year, with some 3.7 million people displaced within the country.

The situation is deteriorating as there is a lack of medical supplies countrywide, in up to seven states, said the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the hospitals are reporting being out of blood bags, oxygen and vital medicines and surgical kits.

With hospitals being shelled, doctors have appealed in the capital Khartoum for safe passage as gun battles rage in the city.

“We strongly condemn the reported attacks on healthcare which have led to at least three people killed and two injured, but as I said these are only the first that have been verified,” said WHO's Dr. Margaret Harris. “Reports of military forces occupying health facilities are really deeply concerning.”

Dr. Harris insisted that “attacks on healthcare are a flagrant violation of humanitarian law and the right to health, and they must stop now." She stressed that “it’s absolutely critical for everybody concerned that those attacks stop. We do have a lot of staff, many of them, and our staff, currently as I understand, are safe but it is also one of our crucial things, as for all our sister agencies, to protect their safety.”

Sudan has a history of instability. The military toppled long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 after mass protests. It then overthrew a power-sharing government in 2021, putting two men at the helm: the head of the army and his deputy, who is also the head of the RSF paramilitary group. Both men were at odds over the process of restoring civilian rule to Sudan.

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Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Sudan Hostilities - OHCHR - WHO - IFRC

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