Red Cross reminds Sudan’s warring parties of obligations under international humanitarian law

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on the parties to the conflict in Sudan “to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to do everything in their power to improve humanitarian access,” underlining that “the humanitarian situation in towns like El Fasher, where people have been trapped in fighting for months, is critical.”

Fifteen months since the beginning of the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), millions of people do not have access to essential services like food, water, and healthcare. Nearly a quarter of the country’s population have fled their homes and lost their livelihoods while months of fighting have taken a heavy toll on civilian infrastructure.

“The humanitarian situation in towns like El Fasher, where people have been trapped in fighting for months, is critical,” said Pierre Dorbes, the head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan in a statement yesterday.

“Some areas of the country are not even reachable by phone, which makes it nearly impossible to operate. Meanwhile, throughout the country, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society volunteers have been working at great personal risk.”

The statement laments: “Millions of Sudanese civilians struggle to access the basics for survival like water points and agricultural land. Fighting and displacement have forced farmers to miss planting seasons. This, combined with rising food prices, is leaving many families to go without enough to eat.”

The ICRC reminds the parties to the conflict: “The rules of international humanitarian law are clear: civilians and civilian objects, including infrastructure and agricultural land, are protected. The ICRC speaks directly the parties to the conflict about their obligations to ensure that people living in the territories under their control can meet essential needs, including adequate food and water supply.”

In the first half of 2024, the ICRC, often in partnership with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) has been providing emergency assistance and helping improve access to essential services. However, difficult access, including deteriorating security and administrative challenges, continue to hamper humanitarian relief efforts.

“What we managed to do in the past six months is very little compared to the vast suffering we see every day,” Dorbes said. “People urgently need more help, and we call on the parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to do everything in their power to improve humanitarian access.”

Between January and June 2024, the ICRC, in close collaboration with the SRCS, among other activities, has:

• Collected over 900 tracing requests and more than 445 allegations of arrest from families looking for their loved ones and submitted some allegations of arrest to the parties.
• Helped over 20,000 separated families re-establish contact, mainly by phone, and responded to nearly 2,500 calls through the ICRC hotline.
• Maintained bilateral and confidential dialogue with the parties to the conflict to remind them of their obligations under international humanitarian law.
• Trained 1,445 weapon-bearers across the country to enhance their knowledge of the rules of war.
• Donated surgical supplies to 12 frontline hospitals in Kassala, Gadaref, Sennar, River Nile, Al-Jazeera, and Darfur, sufficient to treat hundreds of severely wounded people, and treated 85 wounded with its mobile surgical team. Delivered ready-to-use-supplementary food to 28 primary health centres in Kassala.
• Provided technical advice and material support, including body bags and personal protective equipment, to SRCS branches in El Gadaref, Kassala, Khartoum, North and West Darfur, to medical facilities and community committees to help recovery, documentation, and temporary burial of the dead.
• Distributed food to over 56,000 people in Kassala, Blue Nile and El Gedaref, and essential household items to nearly 4,800 people in West Darfur. Provided cash grants to 71,500 people in Kassala, Blue Nile, West Darfur and North Darfur. Helped SRCS provide essential household items to some 6,000 people in White Nile.
• Distributed 14,000 tons of sorghum, 28,000 tons of ground nut and 18,000 tons of cowpeas improved seeds and nearly 7,000 agricultural tools to around 24,000 people in collaboration with the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources in Kassala, Gadaref and Blue Nile states.
• Helped improve water and sanitation for more than 400,000 people across the country.

(Source: ICRC)