UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that the people of conflict-torn Sudan are living a “nightmare” of hunger, disease and massive ethnic violence, with civilians enduring unspeakable atrocities, particularly in Darfur.
Speaking before the UN Security Council, Guterres detailed the humanitarian catastrophe facing the country’s people as brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues unchecked.
The violence, which erupted in April 2023, has pitted the SAF under the leadership of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF, led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Both forces have been accused of committing war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilians and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
“The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence,” Guterres said, adding that the death toll has risen into the thousands, with many civilians subjected to rape, sexual assault, and other atrocities. “The suffering is growing by the day,” he said.
Guterres highlighted the escalating hunger crisis as a particularly dire aspect of Sudan’s turmoil. More than 750,000 people now face catastrophic food insecurity, with conditions akin to famine emerging in displacement camps in North Darfur. The conflict has disrupted food supplies, worsening malnutrition and starvation in the region.
Health concerns are also mounting as Sudan faces an outbreak of diseases, including cholera, malaria, dengue fever, measles, and rubella, which are spreading rapidly in already overburdened and unsanitary displacement sites. Guterres underscored the lack of access to healthcare and clean water for millions of Sudanese.
Guterres expressed frustration at the current limitations on international intervention. “The conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a United Nations force to protect civilians in Sudan,” he said.
