♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

At least 3,000 more Ethiopian refugees arrive in Sudan

July 31 – 2021 WASHINGTON DC / KHARTOUM At least 3,000 Ethiopian refugees reportedly fled into Sudan this week, following the spread of the war in Ethiopia's Tigray to the neighbouring Amhara region. The majority of them fled from Amhara, bordering El Gedaref in Sudan, Washington-based VOA news reported on Wednesday.

El Fatih Mogadam, head of the El Gedaref Emergency Committee for the three refugee camps in the state, told VOA in a telephone interview that 1,058 new asylum seekers have been registered so far. He warned that it will be hard for the camps to absorb so many refugees, and he asked the Sudanese government and aid organisation to quickly intervene. 

The war that erupted last November between the federal government in Addis Ababa and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Ethiopia’s northern region has caused a devastating humanitarian crisis. According to the IOM Emergency Site Assessment (ESA) report of May, an estimated 1.9 million people in Tigray have been displaced. About 60,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan and are camping in eastern towns bordering Ethiopia.

French agritech specialists to help mechanise Sudan’s El Gezira Scheme

July 29 – 2021 KHARTOUM / EL GEZIRA / EL MANAGIL The management committee of Sudan’s El Gezira Scheme and French company FGM International, signed a Memorandum of Understanding today at El Gezira scheme office in Khartoum, to introduce French mechanised farming technology to the scheme for 18 months.

According to the agreement 5,000 and 16,000 acres will be targeted in El Gezira scheme and El Managil respectively. The Governor of El Gezira, Omar Marzoug, signed the memorandum on behalf of Sudan, while the French Ambassador to Sudan, Emmanuelle Blatmann, signed on behalf of France.

In May, France organised the Paris Conference, to support Sudan’s democratic transition and encourage public and private international investments in Sudan after its removal from the USA list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST).

USAID chief says unified Sudanese army key to stability

August 3 – 2021 KHARTOUM / UM RAKUBA The presence of a national army in which the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the forces of armed struggle movements are integrated to be one army under a unified command, is one means to ensure stability in post-revolution Sudan, United States Agency …

Sudan Cabinet unanimous on bill to join Rome Statute of ICC

August 3 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Council of Ministers constituting Sudan’s Cabinet today unanimously passed a draft law for Sudan to accede to and ratify the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The announcement follows a similarly unanimous decision by the Cabinet in June to hand former officials indicted for war crimes …

Sudan: At least 18 killed in West Kordofan clashes

August 2 – 2021 EL FULA Yesterday, a Misseriya tribesman was killed and two soldiers were injured in the northern part of West Kordofan. This is the latest incident of the tribal violence that erupted between Misseriya clans in the area last week, and left 17 tribesmen dead. 35 others were wounded.

Armed men attack villages in North Darfur’s Tawila

August 2 – 2021 TAWILA / EL FASHER At least one person was wounded, five children went missing, and hundreds of people fled their villages in Tawila, North Darfur, on Friday and Saturday, following attacks by groups of gunmen. The North Darfur authorities say the violence was triggered by disputes over the use of agricultural land. One of the victims told …

Sudan's COVID-19 pandemic in cartoons by Omar Dafallah

July 30 – 2021 DABANGA SUDAN The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world and brought societies to a standstill as the virus spread across the globe, but vaccines and testing resources have not been spread out as equally. From the first outbreak to the third wave and the vaccine roll-out, the sharp-witted and often barbed pen of Radio Dabanga's …

Sudan’s liberation movements chart conditions for lasting peace

July 29 – 2021 KAUDA The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu), and the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW), have stipulated that secularism, restructuring of the state and security sector, and pluralism, including recognising the role of women, …

Minister: Agreement on GERD essential to safety of Sudan population

July 29 – 2021 KHARTOUM Sudan’s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasir Abbas, has underlined the necessity for Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia to reach a legal and binding agreement regarding the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), stressing that while Sudan still maintains its position on the benefits of dam, but warned that …

Sudan rainy season: Volume of Blue Nile flow is increasing

July 28 – 2021 KHARTOUM The volume of water flow of the Blue Nile at El Deim station on the Sudanese Ethiopian border increased to 452 million cubic metres, the Nile Water Department of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources reported yesterday. The Nile Water Department said in a press statement that the mean water flow of the Blue Nile registered …