Header photo: © Valerian Guillot via Flickr
- Africa -
Since the start of the new war in Sudan on April 15, 2023, more than eleven million people are said to have been displaced, with three million having fled outside the country. Up to 150 thousand have died or been injured. There is famine in some parts of the country and the threat of famine in other areas. According to UNHCR figures, more than 70 percent of refugees arriving in Chad, for example, report that they have been victims of serious human rights violations. The violence is particularly directed against certain ethnic groups such as the Masalit or the Zaghawa in Darfur. Rape and enslavement of women and children, hunger and displacement are used as weapons in this war against the civilian population.
The war began as a battle between the regular army and the militias of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These are successor forces to the notorious Janjaweed, who committed crimes against humanity during the genocide in Darfur 20 years ago. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, commands the RSF.
He is supported by the United Arab Emirates and Russia, for example, with arms supplies, militias and money. His opponent is Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the commander-in-chief of the Sudanese army. Unfortunately, the army and its allied militias are also committing serious human rights violations. The Sudanese army receives political and military support from Egypt, for example. The RSF now control large parts of Darfur and parts of the capital Khartoum. The war has spread step by step across almost the entire country, focussing on Darfur and central Sudan. All efforts to achieve a ceasefire have so far been in vain. The most important demands are the protection of the civilian population, access to humanitarian aid and that all external actors who are fuelling the war from outside with arms supplies or money must be stopped.
The hope for peace and a transition of the resource-rich country to a democratic society, which emerged with the 2018/2019 revolution and the fall of the dictator Omar Al-Bashir, has been shattered by the war. Courageous women and civil society organizations are desperately trying to protect and provide for people. We are working closely with the women's network Bana Group for Peace and Development, which is constantly doing peace work for Sudanese refugees in the face of constant danger and war. The Bana Group is active both inside and outside Sudan and primarily supports women in refugee camps.
Author: Sarah Reinke
Editors: Stefanie Grolig and Betül Matur
Date of information: November 2024. This text was translated with the help of artificial intelligence.
Last edited January 2025.
