The ceasefire is effective from midnight. Blinken called on both sides to observe the ceasefire “immediately and completely” during this period. The United States also wanted to work for a “permanent end to the fighting,” said the Secretary of State. To this end, Washington will coordinate with “regional and international partners” as well as civilian representatives in Sudan to support the establishment of a committee to negotiate an end to the violence. Basically, the goal is for a civilian government to take power again in the north-east African country, stressed Biden.
According to the UN, more than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting between the army and the RSF militia. Several agreed ceasefires were broken. In large parts of the country there is a lack of water, electricity, food, medicine and fuel. Several evacuation missions are currently underway for foreign nationals, including those from Germany, and for numerous UN employees.
Dramatic situation for civilians
During what has now been nine days of fighting in Sudan, millions of people have been trapped in their homes by explosions and gunmen looting in the streets. An Italian NGO employee told the BBC about looting by soldiers: “Not a single business was spared.” Much was devastated, there was a lack of security guards.
In Khartoum, the Internet connection is also interrupted. According to local sources, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) cut off an Internet service provider to prevent the army from streaming its programs on national television.
US warns of humanitarian crisis
The United States warned on Monday of a shortage of essential medicines, food and water in Sudan. The situation is particularly precarious for the injured and sick. Only 35 hospitals and clinics are still operational in the country of 46 million, the Sudanese Medical Committee reported. And even they are running out of medication. According to Doctors Without Borders, there are hardly any blood supplies left in the country.
A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) disaster response team has been deployed to Sudan to coordinate humanitarian assistance. According to USAID boss Samantha Power, the team will initially operate from Kenya.
Austrians flown from Sudan
Numerous international evacuation missions were flown on Sunday and Monday night. Among the people taken out of the country were 27 Austrians who were able to leave Sudan with the German armed forces. The evacuation was preceded by an intensive and close exchange with European and international partners as well as the United Nations, according to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
“Thanks to German help, thanks to the French, we have managed to get almost half of the Austrians out of Sudan in the last 24 hours,” said Schallenberg, expressing his concern about the situation in Sudan. “Sudan is experiencing, if you will, a tsunami of crises, there is a threat of civil war.” In view of a whole series of coups in West Africa and now the fighting in Sudan, the Foreign Minister spoke of a “very worrying situation” that has potential , “to carry the whole region along”.
Ministry in constant contact
Around 30 Austrians are currently still registered in Sudan with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As with those brought out of the country, they are mostly Austrians with Sudanese roots and their relatives who have lived in Sudan for several years, it said.
With them, the ministry is “constantly in direct, personal contact with developments and other options to support them with a safe exit, including as part of other planned evacuation missions.”
First Austrians flown out of Sudan
In Sudan, efforts to bring foreigners to safety are in full swing. EU countries have taken around 1,000 people out of the country, including 27 Austrians. There is no end in sight to the bloody power struggle that has been raging in the country for over a week.
Special Representative remains in Sudan
In addition to German citizens, the German Bundeswehr also evacuated numerous people from other countries, a total of 313. The USA also evacuated its embassy in Sudan and also flew out a number of diplomats from other countries. According to media reports, France was previously able to fly 388 people out of Sudan. In addition to the US embassies, the French and Dutch embassies in Sudan will remain closed until further notice. According to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the US is working on ways to resume consular work in Sudan as soon as possible.
Many UN employees are among those who have been able to leave the country. UN Special Envoy Volker Perthes wants to stay in Sudan with some of his staff for the time being in order to work on a solution to the current conflict. “We will do everything we can to save lives while protecting the safety of our staff,” Perthes said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that violence in Sudan “could spread across the region and beyond”. “We must do everything in our power to pull Sudan off the brink,” Guterres told the UN Security Council on Monday. He again called for a ceasefire.
Criticism of the British mission
There was criticism of the British mission. After British diplomats were flown out of Sudan, the government in London has come under criticism. Several British citizens complained in the media that they felt left alone. The chair of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, told BBC Radio 4 on Monday that more than 1,000 Britons are believed to be wanting to be brought to safety.
“Sometimes they are big families. I suspect it’s 3,000, 4,000 or more people,” said the conservative politician. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had previously said the British military had evacuated British diplomats and their families.
Borrell: “Successful action”
According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, more than a thousand EU citizens have been brought out of Sudan so far. “It was a complex action and it was a successful action,” Borrell said on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting with EU foreign ministers. Among the EU citizens are 21 diplomats from the EU representation in Khartoum.
The EU Ambassador to Sudan, Aidan O’Hara, remains in the country. “The captain is the last to leave the ship. He’s in Sudan, but not in Khartoum anymore,” Borrell said.
Thousands of Sudanese flee
Sudanese are also trying to flee the fighting. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), up to 20,000 people have already fled to neighboring Chad in the past few days. Others are fleeing to Egypt and South Sudan, according to the UN Emergency Relief Office.
A week ago, fighting broke out in Sudan between the country’s two most powerful generals and their units. Both had led the country with around 46 million inhabitants since a joint military coup in 2021. Now de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, is fighting with the military against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the powerful paramilitary group RSF. Actually, Daglo’s group should have been subordinate to the army and power in the country should have been returned to a civilian government.
According to the National Medical Committee, the number of civilians killed is increasing every day. There is not yet a complete overview of the extent. Many of the injured have no access to care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 420 people have died and more than 3,500 have been injured since the fighting began. The actual number of victims is probably much higher.
