Sudan – The head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, called on the United Nations on Thursday to pressure the Rapid Support Forces to allow humanitarian aid to reach those affected by the ongoing war in the country.
This came during his meeting in the eastern city of Port Sudan with Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the presence of UN envoy Ramtane Lamamra and Sudanese Foreign Minister Hussein Awad, according to a statement by the Sovereignty Council.
According to the statement, the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council briefed the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations on “the situation in the country and the efforts made by the government to open safe corridors to deliver humanitarian aid to citizens.”
He added, “The Sudanese government has shown great cooperation with the United Nations in order to deliver this aid, by opening many crossings through which relief supplies pass.”
Al-Burhan urged “the United Nations to do more work and put pressure on the rebels (Rapid Support Forces) who are obstructing the arrival of this aid and seizing relief convoys.”
For her part, the UN official said that “her visit to the country came to see the developments in the situation in Sudan,” and welcomed “the government’s cooperation in delivering food to those in need,” according to the same statement.
Mohammed stressed that “the humanitarian crisis requires the cooperation of all actors in the humanitarian field in order to save the Sudanese trapped in conflict areas.”
Earlier on Thursday, Sovereignty Council member Ibrahim Jaber said during his meeting with the UN official that the government “is ready to provide all facilities to UN agencies and humanitarian workers in order to provide humanitarian aid to those affected by the war at home and abroad.”
The United Nations office had previously reported on Thursday that Mohamed, accompanied by Lamamra, had arrived in “Port Sudan to meet with (leaders of) the Transitional Sovereignty Council, senior officials and the United Nations team in the country, with a focus on strengthening humanitarian efforts in Sudan.”
He pointed out that Mohammed “will travel to the city of Adré in Chad on Thursday, to draw attention to the multifaceted challenges affecting Chad, including regional dimensions and major risks, and will engage with local authorities, as well as representatives of refugees and host communities.”
On August 15, Sudan decided to open the Adre border crossing with Chad for “3 months to allow humanitarian aid to enter for those affected by the war in the country.”
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging a war that has left about 18,800 dead and nearly 10 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
There are growing international and UN calls to end the war in order to spare Sudan a humanitarian catastrophe that has begun to push millions to famine and death due to food shortages caused by the fighting that has spread to 13 of the 18 states.
Anatolia
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2024-08-30 10:05:16