The Middle East Section calls upon anthropologists and scholars of Southwest Asia and North Africa to recognize, and call attention to, the man-made crises in Sudan engendered by the fighting that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on 15 April 2023. In addition to a high number of casualties and injuries, the ongoing violence has brought about a famine, led to the displacement of millions of civilians and the spread of infectious diseases, crippled the education sector, and been accompanied by sexual violence and other forms of atrocities.
Filippo Grandi, the UN Commissioner for Refugees, has characterized the level of suffering in the country as “truly unconscionable.” He added that “Sudan is the definition of a perfect storm: shocking human rights atrocities, with millions uprooted by this insane war and other wars that came before it. A terrible famine is looming, and severe floods will soon hamper aid deliveries even more. We are losing a generation to this war, yet peace efforts are not working.”
Since the war broke out, a conservative assessment estimates that