Sudan: Situation in Blue Nile ‘going from bad to worse’

Residents of Ed Damazin, the capital of Sudan’s Blue Nile region, report that the city and neighbouring El Roseires are witnessing a continuous influx of displaced people from Sennar. This is owing to the advance of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the northern parts of Blue Nile region. The rainy season has limited movement of goods along the road, and communication has been limited, severely impacting residents.

Activist Nadir Minallah told Radio Dabanga from Ed Damazin that the region* is now experiencing its worst days resulting from the siege imposed from the south because of the rainy season, and from the north owing to the RSF incursion into neighbouring Sennar, leading to a high displacement of civilians. Consequently, the towns in the region have become completely isolated, preventing the delivery of goods and petroleum products and markets currently witnessing a rise in prices and scarcity.

“The situation in the Blue Nile is deteriorating from bad to worse, with communications networks being down for 12 days, so banking transactions are impossible. People are worried sick about their relatives as they cannot reach them anymore.”

Minallah noted that the only available communication service is the satellite internet provider Starlink, but access to it is difficult as the connection is expensive.

There is only one route for the movement and entry of goods. There are no connecting roads to the neighbouring countries of South Sudan and Ethiopia, especially during the rainy season.

As previously reported, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on July 11 expressed its concerns about increased fighting in eastern Sudan that could sever key routes for humanitarian aid from Port Sudan.

* In August 2022, the governor of Blue Nile state issued a number of decrees, based on the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement (JPA), by which the state became a ‘region’ and its seven localities (Ed Damazin, El Roseires, Wad El Mahi, Bau, Geisan, El Tadamon, and El Kurmuk) became ‘governorates’. According to International IDEA, the JPA protocol concerning Blue Nile and [South and West] Kordofan grants autonomy to these areas but does not stipulate they should become a region.