FILE PHOTO: A boy sits atop a hill overlooking a refugee camp near the Chad-Sudan border, November 9, 2023. Hundreds of Masalit families from Sudan's West Darfur state were relocated here months after fleeing to the Chadian border town of Adre, following an ethnically targeted massacre in the city of El Geneina. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
Godsent Ogbebor
UN accuses Sudan’s paramilitary forces of blocking and obstructing life-saving humanitarian aid to Darfur, where famine is worsening amid the country’s ongoing civil war.
In a statement on Monday, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, condemned the RSF for imposing “persistent restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles” that have prevented aid from reaching those in desperate need.
“The world is watching, and it is unacceptable that the humanitarian community in Sudan… is unable to deliver essential aid,” she said.
The RSF, which has been battling Sudan’s regular army since April 2023, now controls most of Darfur, a western region as large as France.
Since May, the group has laid siege to North Darfur’s El-Fasher and attacked nearby displacement camps, further worsening the humanitarian crisis.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has already declared famine in three areas of North Darfur, with projections that it will spread to five more regions by May. IPC data shows nearly seven million people in Darfur are facing crisis levels of hunger.
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The UN has called for the removal of bureaucratic barriers and an end to undue interference, including demands for logistical support or forced engagement with selected vendors.
Since the war began, both warring sides have been accused of blocking aid, looting relief supplies, and threatening humanitarian workers.
The conflict has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced 12 million people, and created one of the world’s worst hunger crises.
Overall, nearly 25 million people across Sudan are facing severe food insecurity, according to UN estimates.
