In brief
The Norwegian Refugee Council warns that the ongoing civil war and the rise of armed groups in Sudan threaten to tip the country into chaos, leaving millions starving and displaced as efforts for peace falter.
War-torn Sudan is on the brink of collapse as civil society disintegrates and armed factions proliferate, warns Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Speaking to the BBC, Egeland described the intensifying conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), compounded by numerous smaller ethnic factions that are rampant with looting and violence against civilians."The parties are tearing down their own houses; they are massacring their own people," Egeland lamented, highlighting a brutal 19-month power struggle that has resulted in an alarming exodus of over 10 million people fleeing their homes. This crisis has escalated to an unprecedented hunger emergency, with over 2.5 million people estimated to be at risk of dying from starvation by the year’s end.Egeland, following a recent assessment in Sudan, stated, "All that I saw confirms that this is indeed the biggest humanitarian emergency on our watch, the biggest hunger crisis, the biggest displacement crisis." The World Health Organization has reported that starvation is pervasive across the country, and many soup kitchens have been forced to close due to insufficient funding.The NRC chief emphasized that the remaining humanitarian efforts are simply "delaying deaths instead of preventing them." He criticized the global community for its inadequate response, contending, "The world is failing Sudan completely." He urged European nations to invest in aid and stability in the region to prevent a broader refugee crisis.Despite ongoing conflicts claiming thousands of lives, peace negotiations between the RSF and the army have stalled. Egeland remarked, "The war will stop when these warlords feel they have more to lose by continuing fighting than by doing the sensible thing," underscoring the urgent need for a shift in the dynamics of power and conflict in Sudan.
