Sudan's war must not be forgotten

A woman walks along a street in Omdurman, Sudan on November 1. Africa’s biggest war is, by some metrics, even worse than the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. EPA

“They came to our house and threatened us. We gave them our money, but they still beat my sister and ripped the earrings from her ears … They are monsters – no, monsters are better than them.”

This harrowing testimony from Husna, a displaced Sudanese woman, was released on Tuesday. It is a shocking tale from Sudan’s brutal civil war but sadly not an exceptional one. According to the UN, fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the country’s Al Jazira region during the past month has claimed more than 120 civilian lives and displaced 135,400 people.

Such violence is just the latest chapter in a conflict in which horrific atrocities have been committed. The Sudanese health authorities say at least 40,000 civilians have been killed since fighting began in April last year but the true death toll may be much higher. About 11 million people have been displaced, more than 25 million face acute hunger and there are numerous credible reports of ethnic cleansing and sexual violence.

Not only is Sudan’s civil war a humanitarian catastrophe, it is also a geopolitical one. Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate this week, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, expressed fears that many share about Sudan’s territorial integrity. A Sudan that breaks apart would tear apart countless families but also endanger the stability of its immediate neighbours as well as the Horn of Africa.

Given the human cost and strategic peril of Sudan’s war, international efforts to end it ought to be in full swing by now. Indeed, Africa’s biggest war is, by some metrics, even worse than the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. However, Sudan commands a fraction of the international attention focused on the Levant and in Europe, and diplomacy to end it has thus far has been disjointed and fitful. In fact, few conflicts in Africa appear to galvanise a sense of urgency on the world stage – no new UN or African Union peacekeeping missions have been authorised for several years; the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Sudan was wound down after South Sudanese independence in 2011.

There is no doubt that Sudan’s war is a complex one – both sides have external support and are made up of a plethora of tribal factions and independent militias with their own agendas. Speaking in London earlier this month, former Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok said recruitment by both sides along ethnic lines from the country’s diverse tribes and minority groups “creates a rift in our society, which would become extremely challenging to push back”.

Sudan’s future does not lie with armed factions imposing their interests on this diverse and sophisticated nation. The country needs an immediate ceasefire, a coherent mediated talks process, more humanitarian support and a return of the national dialogue that followed the fall of former leader Omar Al Bashir in 2019.

Efforts for peace talks, from Jeddah to Geneva have not yet produced a durable solution but they did help pave the way for small windows for aid access. These efforts must be built on and the pursuit of peace cannot be abandoned.

The alternative is a drawn-out war marked by further human suffering, entrenched militias and perpetual regional instability. For these reasons alone, Sudan must not be forgotten.