0
0
The April/May 2023 evacuations from Sudan now seem a distant memory, but for a time they dominated global headlines as the state of the country’s domestic situation rapidly deteriorated. This leaves the question, what has happened since?
In Sudan’s modern history, the nation has experienced almost thirty-five coups d’état. Civil war and military-led government has moulded Sudan’s past and led to the military coup becoming the most common means of regime change. Unfortunately, the story was no different this year. A civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on the 15th April 2023 with conflict being concentrated around the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region. The leaders of both groups participated in the coup that deposed long-time president Omar al-Bashir in 2019, with General Abdel Fattah al Burhan leading the SAF and his deputy, General Mohamed Hamden Dagalo (Hemedti), leading the RSF.
News of the fresh conflict in the Sudanese capital quickly reached the offices of world leaders and a scramble of evacuations ensued. The UK evacuated 2,450 British and other nationals from Sudan on a total of thirty flights, between 25th and 3rd May, having already evacuated British embassy staff from Khartoum during an overnight operation on 22nd-23rd April. At this time, a total of five million people had been displaced by civil war in Sudan, perpetuating the already rapidly mounting humanitarian emergency. Figures from the International Organization for Migration show that 24.7 million Sudanese, almost half the country’s population, needed humanitarian aid and protection.
A silver lining in Sudan is hard to come by. Both factions will do anything to see the demise of the other. As of late September 2023, SAF leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burham believes truce talks with the RSF are impossible and is pushing for his rival faction to be labelled as a ‘terrorist organization.’ Ceasefire discussions to bring an end to the conflict have failed to occur, and 6 months on there is now a worry that the conflict could lead to further humanitarian disaster. Military conflict has not slowed down either, as evidenced by the recent fire that engulfed Khartoum’s iconic 18 story building that hosts the Great Nile Petroleum Operating Company.
Unfortunately, the consequences of the civil war are spilling over into neighboring countries; in the last week, 42 Sudanese refugees are reported to have died in eastern Chad as a result of acute food and drinking water shortages. Another grave loss to the Sudanese people caught up in this war. Add to this new evidence indicating the widespread burning of at least 68 villages in western Darfur, an indication of severe ethnic violations, blamed on the RSF and connected militias. This civil war is now reaching new heights, far exceeding the conflict in Khartoum and the Darfur region. In just a few months the nature of this conflict has taken a turn for the worst. No longer receiving the media attention it once did, the harsh reality and potential ethnic cleansing events in the nation can only be judged a precursor of Sudan’s immediate future.
An endgame for this crisis is both extremely hard to predict and far in the distance. Threats of third-party involvement in Darfur along with Hemedti being vulnerable from those within his own ranks only give way to a long and drawn-out bloody affair at the expense of a suffering Sudanese population, reminded daily of two men desperate to seize power. The internal grappling of control has engulfed Sudan for decades and unfortunately for its people, the road to peace is not something that comes naturally to their country.
Image: A Somali elder stands with his prayer beads // CCO 1
Average Rating