Sudan in ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’ after two years of civil war

Sudan is suffering the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with civilians paying the price for international inaction as the civil war enters its third year, aid groups report.

The warnings came as Britain hosted ministers from 20 countries in London in an attempt to restart stalled peace talks, amid diplomatic efforts often overshadowed by conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Hundreds of people were feared dead in recent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on refugee camps in Darfur, in the latest apparent atrocity of a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 13 million people.

“Sudan is now worse off than ever before,” said Elise Nalbandian, Oxfam’s regional advocacy manager. “The largest humanitarian crisis, largest displacement crisis, largest hunger crisis… It’s breaking all sorts of wrong records”.

The United Nations has verified 148 killings in Darfur and received reports that the total number of dead exceeds 400.

Up to 400,000 people have been displaced from the Zamzam camp alone since the weekend, according to data from the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.

“The large-scale attacks made starkly clear the cost of inaction by the international community,” UN rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement.

El Fasher, the last state capital in Darfur not under RSF control, is one of several areas where famine has been declared, affecting about 637,000 people. Almost half of Sudan’s 50 million population – 24.6 million people – do not have enough food.

Sudan’s army recently recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum and most of the capital, but fighting continues across much of the country.

The conflict erupted two years ago between the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, former allies who jointly staged coups in 2019 and 2021.

The RSF, which grew out of the Janjaweed Arab militias accused of genocide in Darfur in the mid-2000s, made rapid gains in the early months of fighting.

In January, the United States formally declared that the RSF had committed genocide, marking the second time in less than 30 years that genocide had been perpetrated in Sudan.

Both the RSF and the army have been accused of committing war crimes during the conflict. The United Arab Emirates has been accused of fuelling the conflict by arming the RSF, allegations it denies.

“All of the civilian population, irrespective of where they are in the country, have basically been trapped between one, two or more parties,” said Daniel O’Malley, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Sudan. “The sheer numbers are just mind-boggling”.

World Food Programme communications head Leni Kinzli said Sudan was not receiving adequate international attention compared to other crises.

“We don’t see the level of international attention on Sudan as we do for other crises,” she said. “Unfortunately Sudan is – I wouldn’t even call it forgotten – it’s ignored”.