The former UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, warns of a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to the country’s civil war.
“It is getting worse because there is a threat of famine,” the political scientist told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday. He said 18 million people, almost half of the country’s population in northeast Africa, are threatened by acute hunger.
“We have four or five children dying of hunger every day. And that will only increase in the coming weeks and months.” Farmers in Sudan would normally be harvesting their crops now, but this year no seeds could be sown due to the war.
The army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting for control of Sudan since April 2023, with both sides ignoring a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting.
The RSF allows its soldiers to carry out looting, murder and rape in conquered cities, Perthes continued. “And the army mainly has an air force, which bombs without taking the civilian population into account.”
Perthes called for the maintenance of a local ceasefire in the disputed town of Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan. “That means pressure – especially on the militias through their regional allies. And we must use pressure from regional allies to convince the military to allow aid deliveries across the border from Chad to Darfur.”