Rights Groups Warn of Escalating Humanitarian Catastrophe in Sudan and South Sudan as Atrocities Mount and Aid Collapses
Rights Groups Warn of Escalating Humanitarian Catastrophe in Sudan and South Sudan as Atrocities Mount and Aid Collapses
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Amnesty International and Oxfam issued stark new warnings this week about worsening crises in both Sudan and South Sudan, highlighting simultaneous waves of atrocities and deepening hunger across the region, Arab News reported.
In a report released Tuesday, Amnesty International said atrocities committed by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their takeover of El-Fasher in North Darfur last month amounted to war crimes. Testimony from survivors described extrajudicial executions of unarmed men, widespread rape of women and girls, hostage-taking for ransom, and “hundreds of dead bodies” left on streets and main roads. Witnesses cited by Amnesty and the World Health Organization said RSF fighters went house to house killing civilians, and gunned down at least 460 people in a hospital while abducting medical staff. Amnesty researchers interviewed 28 survivors who fled the city.
Meanwhile, across the border in South Sudan, Oxfam warned Wednesday that nearly half the country’s population now faces acute hunger amid historic funding shortfalls. Only 40% of the $1.6bn humanitarian response plan for 2025 has been met as donors cut budgets. Nearly six million people are already food-insecure, projected to reach 7.5 million by April. The charity cited corruption, collapsed basic services, and rising fears of renewed conflict as the 2018 peace deal deteriorates.
South Sudan is also absorbing hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s war, with up to 1,000 people arriving daily in the border town of Renk. Oxfam said it is being forced to scale down operations there by 70% and may halt assistance entirely by February without new funding.
Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s country director, warned that the world is “turning its back” on communities whose survival “hangs in the balance.”
