2023-07-15 18:20:31
The UN emergency aid coordinator, Martin Griffiths, made a appeal this Sunday to the parties in conflict in Sudan to allow them to assist those who need it most, and the international community to redouble efforts to ensure that the confrontation does not turn into a “brutal and endless” civil war with grave consequences for the region.
He recalled that the people of Sudan have tolerated untold suffering in the midst of violence that is tearing his country apart and regretted that as the conflict enters its fourth month today, the battle lines are hardening, making it increasingly difficult to reach the millions of people who need urgent humanitarian assistance.
“Sudan is now one of the most difficult places in the world for humanitarian workers. Together with local organisations, we are doing everything we can to deliver life-saving supplies,” Griffiths said in a statement.
“But,” he warned. we can’t work under the barrel of a gun. We will not be able to replenish stocks of food, water and medicine if the brazen looting continues. We cannot deliver services if our staff are prevented from reaching people in need.”
four months of conflict
The conflict in Sudan began on April 15 when tensions between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) erupted into open fighting and entered its fourth month today with large-scale operations by the army to oust Sudanese from the capital. units of the paramilitary group.
At the end of the third month of fighting, at least 3,100 civilians have lost their lives and more than 6,000 others have been seriously injured, according to data from the Sudanese Ministry of Health, which provides official statistics to the United Nations on the number of fatalities.
Griffiths recalled that more than three million people – half of them children – have fled this violence, both inside and outside the country. He also that half of the children remaining in Sudan, some 13.6 million, need urgent humanitarian aid.
He stated that “Sudan’s suffering will only end when the fighting ends.” “In the meantime,” he added, “we need predictable commitments from the parties to the conflict that allow us to deliver humanitarian aid safely to people wherever they are.”
fulfill commitments
He stressed that both parties must comply with the Declaration of Commitments that they signed in Jeddah to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law and reaffirmed that every day that the fighting continues, the misery of Sudanese civilians increases, reports Efe.
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Griffiths further warned that the recent discovery of a mass grave outside the West Darfur capital, El Geneina, “is just the latest evidence to point to a resurgence of ethnic killings in the region.” On July 13, the UN denounced the discovery of 87 bodies in a mass grave in Darful, the epicenter of the conflict, including seven women and seven children.
“The international community cannot ignore this harsh echo from the history in Darfur. We must all redouble our efforts to ensure that the conflict in Sudan does not escalate into a brutal and endless civil war with grave consequences for the region. The people of Sudan cannot afford to wait“he said in the statement.
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