Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when a nasty power struggle broke out between the army and a strong paramilitary group, resulting in hunger and cries of genocide. The United Nations (UN) now believes that this is the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
Two senior generals, Fateh Al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s Army, and Mohammad Dogulu, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, have been engaged in Sudan’s gold reserves, valued at billions of dollars, are at the center of the conflict, in addition to who controls Sudan itself.
Darfur-based paramilitary group in Sudan called the Rapid Support Force’s (RSF), was established in 2013 by the government to fight Sudanese rebels. However, after defeating rebel forces, the paramilitary group grew into a powerful component to Sudan’s defense, challenging Sudan’s official military, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Currently in control of half of Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as “Hemedti,” has become a prominent figure on the political scene as leader.
The Rapid Suport Forces (RSF) is now widely known for having multiple checkpoints across Sudan with fighters detaining people. The RSF motives painted by the media have been observed as Arab supremacists and Anti-Islamism, as they’ve been documented committing war crimes on a large scale against Non-Arab ethnicities in Sudan. The damage that the RSF has done was shared through the media this past month, sparking eyewitness accounts to share videos on social media analyzing the satellite imagery that has shown pools of blood visible from space. This sparked more conversation about the RSF, who have been accused of burning and burying bodies to conceal the genocide that they have created.
With desperate attempts, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has tried to hide evidence of mass killing in Darfur, by throwing them in mass graves and dumping bodies in water. International Organization of Migration (IOM) estimates that 82,000 of el-Fasher’s total population of 260,000 fled after the RSF seized the last Sudanese military stronghold in the region, amid reports of mass killings, rape, and torture. Many residents are believed to be still trapped. Along with this massacre, reports from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum says that people who fled from the north died because they had no food or water, or because they sustained injuries from gunfire. Others have already encountered incidents with the RSF when previously fleeing, resulting in too many unidentified injuries. With many “communications blackouts” in the city, many civilians do not know what happened to their family members. Although now the RSF is being labelled as a ‘terrorist’ group, the leaders are now some of the richest people in the country.
The relations with Rapid Support Force’s alone are complex, as the UAE has been widely accused of secretly supplying it with financial support, neighboring country Chad, has been accused of also supplying the RSF with military assistance, along with their own recruited fighters from the country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is compensating the RSF to eliminate Sudanese individuals to facilitate access to resources including gold, farmland, and land ports. However, Sudan’s misfortune of being a resource-rich nation situated between the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, with access to both the Red Sea and the Nile, is linked to the beginnings of that revolution and counter-revolution. It is now at the center of conflicting predatory economic interests as a result. In the past, the UAE has stolen gold from Sudan, the luxury has been built on people’s blood. Using Amdjarass, Chad, a town that borders closest to Sudan that the RSF controls, the UAE uses this airstrip in this town to send weapons to the RSF. The UAE and Chad have rejected these accusations, but evidence of its role backing up the RSF is overwhelming.
Throughout 2024, the conditions of the population in Sudan have suffered from severe malnutrition and famine conditions as a result of the civil war. The Global Famine Review Committee released a report stating that it was possible that IPC Phase 5 famine conditions were ongoing in North Darfur, and near Al-Fashir. This phase is also known as “Catastrophe” and is the highest level of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), and signifies extreme food deprivation. Human rights groups say famine conditions have worsened by the Rapid Support Forces burning cities, and destroying harvests, while the Sudanese Army has restricted humanitarian aid deliveries.
The United Nation’s Food Program reports 24.6 million people suffering from acute hunger and 2 million face or risk famine and food shortages. While neighboring countries like Chad and South Sudan have welcomed fleeing migrants, they lack the means to meet the humanitarian needs of those that arrive. Meanwhile, U.S. funding cuts have exacerbated the problem, prompting groups to reduce certain crucial services for refugees, particularly in South Sudan.
The war in Sudan has created the world’s largest and fastest displacement crisis and more than 12 million people have been displaced since April 2023. The majority of displaced people, around 7 million, remain in Sudan where they struggle for access to essential survival supplies. With the country’s public infrastructure, it includes the healthcare system. With more than 70% of the hospitals destroyed, millions are unable to access essential medical care, the spread of cholera outbreak has spread across Sudan, resulting in more than 120,000 confirmed cases, and 3,000 death toll.
Humanitarian organizations like World Food Programme, Doctors without borders, UNICEF, and the International Rescue Committee are providing the essentials to Sudan, and treating many civilians facing malnutrition and offering psychological support. Other organizations focused on human rights, have been documenting and advocating for the people of Sudan. After conflict broke out in 2023, the IRC established a presence, where they delivered health and nutrition services to IDPs fleeing the capital Khartoum. The IRC has created a (WASH) wash, sanitization, and hygiene program that improves water and sanitation infrastructures, restoring hygiene and cholera kites to help prevent disease. Child Protection services for survivors of (GBV) gender-based violence and 32 health facilities to provide primary care have also been established by the IRC, creating a source for Sudanese to rely on. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has also responded and taken action by providing immediate and life-saving humanitarian assistance to children in Sudan. Since 2023, UNICEF has reached millions of children to support safe drinking water, health supplies, and nutrition screenings.
As students, there isn’t so much in our control, but a number of well-known charities, including UNICEF, have set up campaigns so you may donate to respectable organizations that directly help those in need of humanitarian relief and starvation.There is plenty you can do to aid this global issue, and just because it does not directly affect us does not mean it should be gone unnoticed.
