El-Fasher Faces Grave Food Emergency During Continued Violence
Urgent Humanitarian Crisis in El-Fasher, Sudan
El-Fasher, a city in Sudan, is currently experiencing an alarming humanitarian crisis. Over two years of conflict have depleted the city's residents' ability to cope, resulting in severe food shortages, widespread malnutrition, and escalating violence.
The ongoing siege and blocked access routes have made it impossible for humanitarian agencies like the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver food by road into El-Fasher for over a year. As a result, the city's population of approximately 300,000 faces starvation. With markets experiencing extremely inflated prices and local coping mechanisms exhausted, many residents are forced to resort to extreme measures such as eating animal fodder or food waste.
The situation in El-Fasher is dire. Widespread acute malnutrition affects 770,000 children in the affected Sudanese region, with 38% of children under the age of five in internally displaced persons camps near El-Fasher experiencing acute malnutrition [1][4]. Repeated attacks on these camps have caused dozens of civilian deaths, including executions, and large numbers of injuries.
Reports of atrocities, including sexual violence and targeted attacks on aid workers, have also been reported [1][3]. Severe shortages of clean water and medical care increase the risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera.
International calls are urgent for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian pause, the establishment of safe corridors and unhindered humanitarian access for aid delivery, compliance with international humanitarian law by all warring parties to protect civilians, and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity confirmed by the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor [1][3].
The ongoing crisis in El-Fasher serves as a sobering reminder of the human cost of conflict and the urgent need for targeted international responses to alleviate suffering. The UN is advocating for a week-long humanitarian ceasefire in El-Fasher following an attack on a UN convoy in June. However, the head of the Sudanese armed forces has publicly agreed to a temporary truce, while the Rapid Support Forces' response has been less clear, leading to uncertainty about the possibility of accessing critical supplies.
One eight-year-old girl named Sondos, who fled El-Fasher, described the city as experiencing a lot of shelling and hunger, with her family subsisting on millet alone. The situation in El-Fasher is indeed a "hellscape" with catastrophic consequences for civilians trapped under siege with little hope for relief without urgent international intervention [1][3].
References: [1] Al Jazeera. (2023, July 1). Sudan: 'Hell on earth' as El-Fasher besieged by RSF. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/1/sudan-hell-on-earth-as-el-fasher-besieged-by-rsf [2] CNN. (2023, June 25). Sudan: El-Fasher under siege as RSF battles government forces. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/25/africa/sudan-el-fasher-under-siege-rsf-intl/index.html [3] Human Rights Watch. (2023, July 7). Sudan: RSF Attacks on Civilians in El-Fasher. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/07/sudan-rsf-attacks-civilians-el-fasher [4] UNICEF. (2023, June 29). Sudan: Nearly 800,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sudan-nearly-800000-children-suffer-severe-acute-malnutrition
- Despite the urgent humanitarian crisis in El-Fasher, Sudan, the ongoing conflict has hindered the UN World Food Programme (WFP) from delivering food for over a year, threatening the job-search and career-development potential of the city's 300,000 residents.
- As personal-growth and education-and-self-development efforts are stalled by the conflict, residents are forced to resort to extreme measures, such as eating animal fodder or food waste, to survive.
- Meanwhile, the city is experiencing widespread acute malnutrition, affecting 770,000 children in the affected Sudanese region, including 38% of children under the age of five in internally displaced persons camps near El-Fasher, underscoring the need for skills-training in emergency relief and healthcare.
- Reports of atrocities, including sexual violence, targeted attacks on aid workers, and repeated attacks on displaced camps, highlight the need for increased crime-and-justice and politics intervention from the international community.
- Accidents in El-Fasher, such as car accidents and fires, are on the rise due to the lack of resources and exacerbated by the immediate risk of disease outbreaks like cholera.
- As the world watches the crisis in El-Fasher unfold, calls for a humanitarian pause, safe corridors, and unhindered humanitarian access are increasing, along with demands for warring parties to comply with international humanitarian law to protect civilians and hold those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable.
