The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

April 14, 2025 6:05 PM

Sudanese Paramilitaries Kill Entire Clinic Staff in Famine-Struck Camp This week marks two years since fighting erupted on April 15, 2023, between the RSF and the Sudanese military, resulting in thousands of deaths, the displacement of nearly 13 million people, and a severe hunger crisis in regions across Sudan.

Sudan war to enter third year as RSF assaults in Darfur intensify
More than 200 civilians killed as Sudan’s RSF attacks Darfur displacement camps
Two Years of War in Sudan: From Revolution to Ruin and the Fight to Rise Again
A Third Year of War: Dried-Up Aid Pulls Sudan Further Into Chaos
Sudanese American Physicians Association


Previously

posted by spacebologna (16 comments total)

Previously-er.
posted by lalochezia at 6:31 PM on April 14

That is horrific.
posted by toastyk at 7:24 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]

.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 7:25 PM on April 14

Thirteen million.
posted by clew at 7:25 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]

(should be able to say this here...)

Like seriously, fuck the UAE.

Just out: Leaked UN experts report raises fresh concerns over UAE’s role in Sudan war -
As crucial London peace talks set to begin, report seen by the Guardian raises questions over ‘multiple’ flights into bases in Chad
posted by cendawanita at 8:42 PM on April 14 [7 favorites]

This is the worst thing happening in the world right now, at least by metrics like people dead. I think international deals like a ceasefire for investment (probably involving UN peacekeepers) could gain traction. That other genocide is very, very important... but maybe care a little here too.
posted by netowl at 11:14 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]

Until I got too ill to continue last fall, I was a math tutor at a community college. We had a number of Sudanese refugees as students. I've been thinking of them lately, with all the immigration BS that's going on, and hoping for their continued presence in the US.
posted by Well I never at 11:19 PM on April 14 [6 favorites]

I'm horribly naive, can somone help me bridge the gap between "the paramilitaries are fighting the military" and "the paramilitaries are destroying a refugee camp and murdering it's medical team"? I assume there are ethnic/religious/geographic groupings involved but usually the ones in camps are not the ones on the side of the establishment?
posted by Iteki at 11:55 PM on April 14

This recent Guardian article on the lifting of the siege of Khartoum was horrifying and heartbreaking.
posted by rory at 12:50 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

can somone help me bridge the gap between "the paramilitaries are fighting the military" and "the paramilitaries are destroying a refugee camp and murdering it's medical team"?

['dried up aid' link]:

in February 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a cut to 83 percent of USAID programs. Prior to that, USAID had already committed nearly $126 million toward Sudan for this year, and it was not clear whether any of this funding would be delivered. Trump’s Africa team—Sudan envoy among them—has still not been fully staffed.

Already 80 percent of emergency kitchens have shut down; despite the State Department issuing an exemption for emergency food, confusion over what that means in practice has shuttered operations. Infection rates are likely to surge as “millions contend with the closures” of health-care programs to combat diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, says Ahmed Abdullah Ismail, head of the Paris-based Sudanese nonprofit Mashad. Funding for essential medical goods has vanished.

Local workers have said the funding slash is their biggest roadblock yet. “There have been many crises in Sudan which have affected the work of the humanitarian sector, but the USAID cuts have been the worst I’ve ever seen,”

usually the ones in camps are not the ones on the side of the establishment?

[wiki:] “The ‘Government of Peace and Unity’ (Arabic: حكومة السلام والوحدة, romanized: hukumat alsalam walwahda) is a proposed parallel government announced in February 2025 to administer areas of Sudan controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups”

[middleeasteye:]

“What the UAE can get from the RSF is guarantees of gold and of future agricultural production. The RSF is an actor which has more power to deliver, as they have no regard for public relations or human rights,” he added.

The UAE’s strategy in Sudan is one of “land banking”, explained Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation. This approach involves purchasing land with the intention of future development.

posted by HearHere at 1:16 AM on April 15 [5 favorites]

Sudan is definitely the worst ongoing genocide.

As I undetstand it, the RSF grew out of the Janjaweed militia, mostly Arab nomads who long fought againt more sedentary farmers in southern Sudan. Southern Sudan is often not Islamic.

Southern Sudan fought for independence throughout the 80s and 90s. After that ending, the Janjaweed and later RSF committed genocide on behalf of the Islamist Sudanese government during the War in Darfur (26 February 2003 – 31 August 2020).

Afaik the Sudan government wanted genocide to prevent future independence movement in Southern Sudan, maybe to reduce the non-Islamic population too. I'd expect the independence movements were originally grounded in exactly the history of agression by northern Sudanese Arabs.

The current Sudanese civil war (2023–present) is a power struggle between RSF and the Sudan government, both Islamic, in which the RSF target the Islamic Masalit people and others. Importantly, the Masalit tribes fought against the Sudan government forces and the Janjaweed during the War in Darfur too.

RSF has stashed gold in UAE banks for ages now, with which they buy weapons. I suppose the UAE now views the RSF as bettern regional partners than the Sudan government.
posted by jeffburdges at 1:59 AM on April 15 [11 favorites]

Thank you for posting.
posted by lokta at 2:37 AM on April 15 [4 favorites]

I wish I believed in hell and eternal damnation, because I would wish Trump everlasting suffering for his part in this.

At rough count, with no stopping, it would take over a year for 13 million people to walk through a door. But that number is still inconceivable.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:06 AM on April 15

The wider context for this is climate change hurting food and fodder production. It's an exacerbating factor on pre-existing tensions.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute have just updated their Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet on South Sudan.

Here's the first para, gets straight to the point:
"South Sudan is one of the least peaceful countries in the world and one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns have led to both drought and flooding, impacting river flows and the groundwater availability and water quality for a population highly reliant on agriculture and pastoralism."
posted by happyinmotion at 1:54 PM on April 15 [5 favorites]

.
posted by limeonaire at 6:20 PM on April 15

"My son was killed in front of my eyes. Three bullets in his chest": voices of Sudanese refugees in Chad's desert camps (archive).
posted by rory at 6:55 AM on April 23 [2 favorites]