USAID calls on Sudan junta for ‘immediate action to lift impediments to humanitarian aid operations’

The administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, has urged the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to take “immediate action” to open the border crossing from Adré in Chad, and lift current restrictions at other border crossings to ensure the effective, sustained delivery of lifesaving assistance to people in urgent need across Sudan”.

In a telephone call with Lt Gen Shamseldin Kabbashi, deputy commander of the SAF and member of the Sovereignty Council, Power cited “Sudan’s long history of bureaucratic obstructionism of humanitarians,” and urged Kabbashi and the SAF “to take immediate and specific steps to lift impediments to humanitarian aid operations.”

A briefing by USAID spokesperson Jessica Jennings confirms that Power spoke to Kabbashi on Thursday, raised the looming famine in Sudan, and called for “immediate action by the SAF to open the Adré border crossing in eastern Chad and lift current restrictions at other border crossings to ensure the effective, sustained delivery of lifesaving assistance to people in urgent need across Sudan”.

Power’s appeal to Kabbashi follows up on similar communication in March with the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and de facto President of Sudan, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan.

During Thursday’s call, Power underlined to Kabbashi that “obstruction of humanitarian access is having devastating consequences for the Sudanese people, five million of whom are at risk of starvation.” She highlighted that “since early April, 860,000 of the most vulnerable people have not received assistance”. The USAID administrator noted Sudan’s long history of bureaucratic obstructionism of humanitarians and urged Kabbashi and the SAF to take immediate and specific steps to lift impediments to humanitarian aid operations.

Power also expressed serious concern about the recent escalations of hostilities in and around El Fasher, including attacks on civilians by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), “that threaten to exacerbate already dire conditions for vulnerable people in Darfur.”

She emphasised that “the USA urges the leadership of the SAF and RSF to deescalate the situation in and around [the North Darfur capital of] El Fasher and commit themselves to negotiations toward a cessation of hostilities and an end to this conflict and the immense suffering of the Sudanese people”.

Humanitarian response

Refugees from Darfur continue to flow into Chad, while refugees from Iridimi, Alacha, Adré, and Gaga camps report dire humanitarian conditions. More than 1,000 people reportedly cross the border into Adré on some days. 90 per cent of them say they left Sudan due to food insecurity, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator in Sudan reports.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has lauded a new pledge by the European Union of €117 million for the humanitarian response in Sudan, as well as an additional EUR €185 million to respond to the impact of the crisis in neighbouring countries, as WFP works to scale up its operations to avert the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The USA has called on all armed groups in Sudan to immediately stop attacks on the North Darfur capital. The US State Department expressed its concern about indicators of an imminent attack by the RSF and affiliated gunmen on El Fasher via spokesperson Matthew Miller, who said that any attack on El Fasher would expose civilians to severe danger, including hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have taken refuge there.