Sudan: Vorbereiten auf die Apokalypse

Mit unverminderter Härte geht der Bürgerkrieg im Sudan weiter. Offiziellen Angaben zufolge sollen schon über fünf Millionen Menschen zu Flüchtlingen oder Binnenvertriebenen geworden. Auch die humanitäre Versorgung, derjenigen, die geblieben sind, wird immer schwieriger.

Helfer sprechen davon, es sei, als bereite man sich auf die Apokalypse. Nicht deutet darauf hin, dass sich die seit Monaten andauernden Kämpfe abschwächen. Ganz im Gegenteil. Während es in der umkämpften Hauptstadt wenigstens noch ein paar wenige Augenzeugen gibt, die von Verbrechen und Menschenrechtsverletzungen berichten können, herrscht in anderen Landesteil de facto ein Medien Blackout. Die wenigen Nachrichten, die etwa aus Darfur kommen allerdings sprechen eine deutliche Sprache, was dort vorgeht:

“We’re essentially witnessing two separate conflicts,” said one aid official who wished to remain anonymous. “The first, which is getting a lot of attention, is between Burhan and Hemedti in Khartoum. The second, which is much more sinister, is what is happening in Darfur.”

The official likened aspects of the situation in Darfur, a huge and largely arid swath of western and south-western Sudan, to the widespread violence and rights abuses that occurred there between 2003 and 2009. “In some places, 70% of the population have fled, mostly Masalit,” the official said. “We are seeing IPC4 levels of malnutrition [the second highest rating].”

The official also expressed fears that fighting between the SAF and RSF would spread south-east from Khartoum to Jazirah state, the country’s bread basket situated between the Blue and While Niles, and that the 1.1 million South Sudanese refugees in White Nile state might decide they have no choice but to return to their own country. “The fear is that if they get spooked they go back to a South Sudan that cannot cope,” the official said. “It’s like trying to plan for the apocalypse.”

Since the outbreak of fighting on 15 April, a series of interlocking conflicts have broken out around the country. “There are more and more militias getting involved,” Tibor Nagy, the former head of the US state department’s Africa bureau in the Donald Trump administration, told Foreign Policy last week. “The humanitarian dimension will also get worse. Pick your calamity.”

Fighting around Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman has already driven about 2.8 million people from their homes. Last month, almost half of the residents of just one district of Omdurman left after the SAF warned them that their neighbourhood was going to be shelled. Twenty people were subsequently killed in two rounds of shelling, including 10 who died while watching a football match.