Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, met with the head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Wednesday to discuss the UN’s role in the country’s ongoing crisis, according to the official Sudan News Agency.

A mass wave of displacement in Sudan’s North Darfur state is pushing hundreds of thousands into precarious conditions far from lifesaving aid, as overstretched operations struggle to keep pace with the growing emergency. Renewed attacks on camps – including Zamzam and Abu Shouk – that were sheltering those displaced by earlier violence have now forced an estimated 400,000 to 450,000 people to flee again.

Britain and European Union countries led international calls Tuesday for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire” to end the devastating war in Sudan, as nations pledged more than 800 million euros ($909 million) in fresh humanitarian aid. The international community also “stressed the necessity of preventing any partition of Sudan,” a statement at the end of a London conference said, as the conflict entered its third year.

[…] The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the former deputy to the regular army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced the rival government amid growing international fears that Sudan could become split between the two sides, who have both been accused of abuses.

A British-led attempt to establish a contact group to facilitate ceasefire talks in Sudan fell apart on Tuesday when Arab states refused to sign a joint communique after a conference in London.

Two years to the day since Sudan’s brutal war erupted between rival generals who rejected the peaceful transition to civilian rule after the overthrow of Omar Al-Bashir, UN chief António Guterres insisted that the world “must not forget” the suffering of the country’s people. 

As Sudan’s devastating war enters its third year, UN rights investigators are warning that its “darkest chapters” may still lie ahead, following the massacre of more than 100 people at displacement camps in Darfur over the weekend. The latest attacks, which began on 11 April, saw Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-affiliated forces launch coordinated assaults on Zamzam and Abu Shouk – two of the largest camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Darfur – as well as the regional capital, El Fasher.

The Red Cross raised alarm on Thursday at the growing use of drone attacks by warring parties on hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure in Sudan, which it said was contributing to widespread human rights violations.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of being "complicit in the genocide" during the current civil war.

The British government is bringing together foreign ministers from nearly 20 countries and organisations in an attempt to establish a group that can drive the warring factions in Sudan closer towards peace.