UN rights chief warns of 'mass deaths from famine' in Sudan

Voice of America
27 Feb 2025, 22:05 GMT+10

GENEVA —

The U.N. human rights chief warned of the risk of a further escalation of the war in Sudan on Thursday and said there was a growing risk of deaths from starvation on a wide scale.

Volker Türk's warning came a day after the U.N. World Food Program has temporarily stopped distributing food aid in a famine-struck camp for displaced people in Sudan's North Darfur amid escalating violence.

"Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine," he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva. "The danger of escalation has never been higher."

FILE - A World Food Program worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Darfur and other famine-stricken parts of Sudan, Nov. 12, 2024. The WFP announced on Feb. 26, 2025, it suspended operations in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur due to violence there.

WFP pauses food aid in famine-hit Sudan refugee camp

War erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

Already, famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, according to the United Nations.

Türk said that recent moves by the RSF towards establishing governing authority in areas it controls were likely to "further entrench divisions and the risk of continued hostilities."

He also noted continued supplies of weapons to the warring parties from outside the country, including more advanced arms.

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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