More than half of Sudan’s population needs humanitarian aid, the head of the Danish Refugee Council said. AFPas fighting ravages the northeast African nation.
Since it broke out in April 2023, the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“We see a situation where more than 30 million people need humanitarian assistance. That is half of Sudan’s population,” said Danish Refugee Council Secretary General Charlotte Slente. AFP by phone this week after a visit to a border region in neighboring Chad.
“The suffering we see is unimaginable.”
Sudan had a population of around 50 million people in 2024, according to the World Bank.
The aid official’s comments came after a field visit to an area of Chad bordering Sudan’s western Darfur region, which has seen fierce fighting recently.
Violence has increased dramatically in recent weeks, with the RSF taking control of the key town of El-Fasher – the army’s last stronghold in Darfur – after an 18-month siege and reports of atrocities multiplying.
“There are violations that transcend all international humanitarian laws,” he added. Slente said the NGO had seen evidence of mass killings and sexual violence in Sudan.
“We see arrests, we see kidnappings, forced displacements and torture,” he said.
He accused the international community of not doing enough.
“The statements have very limited impact on current humanitarian needs on the ground and have failed to stop the violence,” he said.
He warned that there were other cities still under siege that were not receiving the same level of care.
The town of Babanusa, the army’s last stronghold in West Kordofan state, has been under siege for several months, as have the North Kordofan state capital El-Obeid, and Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan.
“The international community must stop managing the consequences of this conflict and must start preventing atrocities,” Slente said.
