First anniversary of the war in Sudan
Today marks one year of war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Both sides have committed grave violations of international human rights law, in some cases amounting to war crimes, according to Human Rights Watch. This has included the unlawful killing of civilians, obstruction of the provision of humanitarian aid and the use of child soldiers.
The conflict has displaced over six million people internally and nearly two million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently stated that Sudanese people affected by the conflict may flee beyond neighbouring countries towards North Africa and potentially to Europe.
As the conflict continues, expect famine and food insecurity to exacerbate the already devastating effects of the war in the near term. As one of the key breadbaskets for African and Arab countries, famine will have far-reaching implications in the region, especially for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Looking forward, an uptick in refugees from Sudan is likely to be a divisive political issue in Europe, already grappling with influxes of refugees escaping other conflicts. Despite relatively low media coverage thus far, expect this to become a hotbed issue in the medium to long term.
