A week’s ceasefire to defuse the crisis in Sudan

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This was preceded by attempts by the government of neighboring South Sudan to mediate between the Sudanese armed forces and rival paramilitaries. However, it is questionable whether the ceasefire will hold this time: since the fighting began more than three weeks ago, ceasefires of up to 72 hours have been negotiated repeatedly, but repeatedly broken.

In the Horn of Africa country, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is using the armed forces to wage a power struggle against his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two generals had once taken over the leadership in Sudan through joint military coups. However, questions about the division of power led to a rift between the two camps, which culminated in open fighting on April 15 and plunged the country of some 46 million people into crisis.

Reports of looting and raids on Wednesday also fueled doubts whether the newly negotiated ceasefire would actually hold. According to the United Nations, six trucks carrying aid supplies have been looted on their way to the northern region of Darfur. UN emergency coordinator Martin Griffiths could not say who was behind it. “Some military elements are very disciplined, others less so,” he said in the eastern port city of Port Sudan. The UN wants to try to bring humanitarian aid to Darfur via neighboring Chad. Griffiths stressed, however, that relief efforts continued even without a formal ceasefire.

The UN envoy acknowledged that, as with all crises, mistakes were made in the first chaotic days of the conflict. “We all know we can and must do more,” Griffiths said. However, this requires reliable security guarantees, from the top of the fighting associations to the individual regions.

The first negotiations between the warring parties follow the ceasefire. Al-Burhan and Daglo have pledged to nominate representatives for talks in the South Sudanese capital Juba. However, a date for the start of negotiations has not yet been set.

The people of Sudan yearn for an end to the violence. The humanitarian need in the country is already enormous. The UN is preparing for the fact that significantly more than the already 100,000 displaced people will seek refuge abroad. Even before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, the UN had estimated humanitarian needs in Sudan at $1.7 billion (€1.55 billion) and asked for matching donations. Only 14 percent of this was received. The International Red Cross described the situation of the refugees as “catastrophic”.

(SDA)

Source: Blick