Abdullah Abu Dhaif (Khartoum, Cairo)
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States have expressed their deep concern over the serious violations of the ceasefire and the Jeddah Declaration by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, according to a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, SPA.
The two countries noted that the violations harmed civilians and the Sudanese people, and impede the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of basic services. “Once it becomes clear that the parties are actually serious about complying with the ceasefire, the moderators are ready to resume the pending discussions to find a negotiated solution to this conflict,” they said. According to the statement, Saudi Arabia and America urged both sides to seriously commit to the ceasefire and support humanitarian efforts that respond to the humanitarian needs of the Sudanese people.
In addition, the United Nations called for emergency financial support to help more than 100,000 new Sudanese refugees who fled to neighboring Chad since the outbreak of the crisis in their country more than 6 weeks ago.
In exclusive statements to Al-Ittihad, the regional spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Rola Amin, called on the countries of the world to provide support to the displaced Sudanese, noting that the asylum journey could take up to 10 days amid the lack of basic needs of water, food and medicine.
Rola Amin stressed the importance of providing the necessary and humanitarian needs in the centers of arrival for the displaced Sudanese, in addition to working to help them settle and take into account their conditions, noting that the UNHCR has continued to provide support in all its forms to them, since the outbreak of the crisis in mid-April.
The regional spokeswoman added that the UNHCR contributes with all its energy to the arrival of the displaced to safe places, through appeals to neighboring countries to keep the borders open to the displaced and to facilitate the arrival of aid to them in safe countries or areas.
She added, “The UNHCR is working to help the countries hosting the displaced, so that it can include them in health, and provide them with educational services and psychological support, because some of them may have been exposed to violence during or before displacement, and great suffering during the difficult journey.”
With more refugees crossing into Chad every day, 90 percent of whom are children and women, many have no choice but to stay in the open or under the shade of trees, while others sleep in makeshift shelters near the border, according to UNHCR. The refugees are exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis in Chad, a landlocked country suffering from widespread food insecurity, the effects of climate change, and intercommunal conflicts.
6.9 million people, more than a third of the Chadian population, need humanitarian aid, and before the current influx of refugees, the country was hosting more than a million forced refugees, including 400,000 Sudanese refugees in the east, according to the United Nations.
In a related context, the European Union launched a humanitarian air bridge to transport essential supplies to humanitarian partners who help refugees cross the Chadian border, after the Sudanese situation forced thousands of people to flee to neighboring Chad.
The first flight arrived yesterday, in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, carrying nearly 90 tons of relief materials for UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund.
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