Sudan atrocities mount as UK hosts forum seeking path out of war

KHARTOUM – Fighting raging in a major city in Sudan’s Darfur region forced at least 400,000 people to flee for their lives, as Britain hosts an international conference that seeks to ensure aid access and find a path to ending the two-year civil war.

Nine aid workers died in violence that engulfed the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people near El-Fasher in Darfur, western Sudan, in recent days, according to the UN.

The city is the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese army in a region where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has expanded its control since the conflict erupted in April 2023.

Foreign ministers and humanitarian groups gather in London on April 15 to discuss how to achieve peace and stop the warring parties from blocking humanitarian relief.

Britain announced £120 million (S$209 million) of food aid for Sudan, and Germany pledged €125 million (S$186.6 million) of assistance before the conference began.

“Instability must not spread – it drives migration from Sudan and the wider region, and a safe and stable Sudan is vital for our national security,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. “The UK will not let Sudan be forgotten.”

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University released satellite images on April 14 showing that the Zamzam camp is being systematically destroyed by fire from “intentional arson by RSF forces”.

Images showed that an area the size of 165 standard football pitches – or 1,183 sq km – had been destroyed since April 11.

Aid cuts

The hosting of the conference in London has spawned diplomatic tensions as neither of the warring parties have been invited, with Britain instead looking to use the event to devise ways to tackle the humanitarian crisis rather than mediate a peace deal.

The meeting comes weeks after Britain slashed foreign aid spending in favour of defence, despite concerns from government ministers that severe cuts in US international aid were having a particular impact in Sudan.

Prior to the event, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry complained that the British government invited representatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chad and Kenya, whose governments they allege have backed the RSF.

All three countries have denied such involvement.

On April 15, the UAE called for “an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire” in Sudan and for both sides to “come to the negotiating table in good faith”.

The war in Sudan erupted exactly two years ago, after Sudan’s army and the RSF failed to agree to a power-sharing deal.

At least 150,000 people have since died and more than 12 million people have fled their homes in what has become the world’s largest displacement crisis.

More than 3.8 million of those forced to flee their homes have crossed into neighbouring countries, according to the UN. BLOOMBERG