The European Union and Britain have committed to enhance aid to Sudan ahead of a summit in London commemorating the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions and wrecked the country.
Britain stated that the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the situation, but Sudan’s government criticized the event because no representation from either side of the conflict was invited.
The Sudanese conflict broke out in April 2023, started by a power struggle between the army and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), shattering aspirations for a peaceful transition to civilian administration.
It has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated areas like as Darfur. It has also attracted various international powers.
The European Union and its member states offered more than €522 million ($592 million) to address the situation, while Britain announced an additional £120 million pounds ($158 million) in aid.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the international community had to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians and let aid in, and he hoped the conference would establish principles for future engagement.
“We do need patient diplomacy,” he told delegates at the start of the conference.
“We cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here, one year from now, having the same discussion.”
Britain is co-hosting the conference with the African Union, the European Union, France and Germany.
Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has complained to Lammy, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticising the presence of the United Arab Emirates and Kenya.
Sudan accused the UAE of arming the RSF, a charge that UN experts and US lawmakers have found credible, and it has taken a case against it to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
The UAE has denied the allegation and asked for the case to be thrown out.
Sudan also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.
Lana Nusseibeh, assistant minister for Political Affairs at the UAE Foreign Ministry, stated that both sides were committing crimes and that relief was being purposefully obstructed.
Organisers hope the meeting will raise attention to a situation in which Britain claims 30 million people are in critical need of relief and 12 million have been displaced.
A UN organisation warned Thursday that rape is routinely used as a weapon of war in Sudan.
Lawyers acting for Sudanese victims today also submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.
