UN agency accuses paramilitary forces of obstructing aid delivery in western Sudan
A United Nations agency on Monday accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of hindering delivery of humanitarian aid to the needy, particularly in the Darfur region in western Sudan.
“The persistent restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the Sudanese Agency for Relief and Humanitarian Operations (SARHO), an affiliate of the RSF, are preventing life-saving assistance from reaching those in desperate need,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
Despite repeated commitments made by the SARHO, humanitarian actors continue to face obstruction, undue interference, and operational restrictions that contravene international humanitarian law and the obligations outlined in the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, it said.
The OCHA called on the SARHO to take immediate and concrete measures to engage with the humanitarian community as a whole to guarantee the delivery of urgent life-saving aid, simplify procedures for aid convoys by eliminating unnecessary approvals, and end interference in humanitarian operations, including demands for logistical support.
“The humanitarian community in Sudan calls on the SARHO to do its utmost to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers, assets and operations to ensure their ability to function without threats or coercion,” the statement added.
On August 13, 2023, the RSF announced the establishment of the SARHO to coordinate with the international humanitarian community in Sudan regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid to the areas under its control, namely in the Darfur region.
Previous UN reports indicated that more than half of Sudan’s population is now facing acute hunger.
According to official statistics, 28.9 million people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance due to the ongoing conflict in the country.
Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which claimed at least 29,683 lives and displaced over 15 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations.
