April 23, 2024 (GENEVA) – Hundreds of thousands of people and refugees fleeing from the Sudan war going to neighbouring Chad or Ethiopia, the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrel said.

Borrell, also the Vice President of the EU Commission, was speaking during the 25th EU-Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum for Human Rights.

He described the situation in Sudan as a struggle for power among at least three warlords, with each one of them allegedly supported by some of the neighbours.

“One neighbour supports one, the other neighbour supports the other,” said Borrell.

Last month, a joint statement from the EU strongly condemned a ban by the Sudanese de facto authorities on the delivery of cross-border humanitarian assistance from Chad to Sudan to the civilians suffering at the hands of the SAF and the RSF.

Borrell and the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčic then described the ban as a flagrant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

In the context of widespread hostilities, cross-border assistance is the lifeline to the people of Darfur, the EU said, adding denying access to vital aid for people in need, especially in conflict-affected regions is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation in what is now the largest displacement and protection crisis globally.

“We remind all parties to the conflict that the denial of humanitarian assistance can amount to a war crime under international law, ” stressed the EU statement.

The joint statement further stated that the ban directly contradicts commitments made by the parties to the conflict in Sudan in the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians and to facilitate increased humanitarian assistance.

These commitments, it emphasized, are essential for mitigating the impact of the conflict on civilian populations and ensuring their basic needs are met.

The EU reaffirmed the immediate need to guarantee safe, unimpeded, and uninterrupted humanitarian access within the country as well as across international borders, warning that Sudan was on a verge of a large-scale famine.

Fighting between rival armed factions broke out in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum in mid-April last year, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict, in its second year, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced more than 8 million people.

According to the United Nations, nearly 2 million displaced Sudanese have fled the conflict to unstable areas in neighbouring Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

(ST)