‘Unimaginable Trauma’ Haunts Sudan’s Displaced while Famine Threaten Millions

UN

Horrific violence and the risk of famine continue to stalk the people of Sudan, UN humanitarians warned, as they echoed condemnation by UN Secretary-General António Guterres of an attack on a village south of Khartoum two days ago that is now believed to have left more than 100 dead.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attack reportedly carried out on 5 June by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Wad Al-Noura village, Jazira state, which is said to have killed over 100 people,” his Spokesperson said in a statement overnight, which also underscored “the immense suffering of the Sudanese population as a result of the continued hostilities”.
“It is high time for all parties to silence their guns across Sudan and commit to a path towards sustainable peace for the Sudanese people.”
Briefing journalists in Geneva from Port Sudan, Mohamed Refaat, the UN migration agency (IOM)’s chief of mission in the country, highlighted “truly horrifying reports of violent attacks and casualties” in the village of Wad Al-Noura in Aj Jazirah state.
His comments came as unconfirmed video images showed dozens of bodies laid out for burial in the village following a reported assault by heavily armed RSF fighters, some 112 kilometres (70 miles) from the capital.
At least 35 children were believed to be among the dead, drawing strong condemnation from UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“This is yet another grim reminder of how the children of Sudan are paying the price for the brutal violence,” she said in a statement late Thursday. “Over the past year, thousands of children have been killed and injured. Children have been recruited, abducted and subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. Over five million children have been forced from their homes.
The UN’s top human rights official also expressed his shock upon learning of the killings in Wad Al-Noura, maintaining that the RSF had “used weapons with wide-area effects, including artillery shells, during the attack”.
“These killings add to my existing, serious concerns about the adherence to the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution under international humanitarian law by those involved in the fighting,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
“Those responsible for unlawful killings must be held accountable. How many more Sudanese civilians must die before the parties to the conflict stop the fighting?”
At another flashpoint of the conflict, in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher in Sudan’s west, some 800,000 civilians are still in danger, amid intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival RSF.
The location remains “inaccessible” to the UN either cross-line or cross-border, Mr. Refaat said.
Internal displacement in Sudan since the start of the conflict on 15 April last year has almost reached the 10 million mark, IOM’s Mr. Refaat noted, with food insecurity an increasing factor in people’s decision to flee. Some 18 million people in the country are acutely hungry while 3.6 million children are acutely malnourished.