ALPS group urges Sudan鈥檚 warring parties to open all famine-stricken areas to relief operations

Sudanese, displaced from the town of Sinjah, receive humanitarian aid at their makeshift camp in the eastern city of Gedaref on August 22, 2024. (AFP)
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  • Group calls on Sudan鈥檚 army and the RSF to allow relief efforts 鈥榯o reach the heartland of the crisis and contain the famine鈥�
  • RSF also urged 鈥榯o refrain from any attacks targeting civilians鈥� and the Sudan Armed Forces to stop 鈥榳idespread aerial bombardments鈥�

RIYADH: A coalition of countries working for a resolution of the civil war in Sudan on Saturday urged the warring parties to expand access to famine-stricken areas by humanitarian relief efforts.

In a joint statement, the ALPS Group said that while humanitarian operations 鈥渁re now moving across conflict lines from Port of Sudan through Shendi to Khartoum,鈥� wider access must be ensured for relief efforts 鈥渢o reach the heartland of the crisis and contain the famine.鈥�

This 鈥渆xpansion of humanitarian access, while a positive sign, remains insufficient to meet both the needs of the people and to ensure the efficient delivery of the hundreds of thousands of tons of additional humanitarian assistance being mobilized for the people of Sudan,鈥� the statement said.

The ALPS Group 鈥� which stands for Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan 鈥� issued the statement after a virtual meeting on Sept. 19, during which it received 鈥渟obering updates鈥� on the ground situation in the troubled North African country.

The group includes 黑料社区, the US, Switzerland, the UAE, Egypt, the African Union, and the UN. 




Sudanese queue to fill on water Port Sudan on August 26, 2024, after a dam collapsed as a result of heavy rain. (AFP)

During the virtual meeting, the group noted an instance of 鈥渃atastrophic malnutrition鈥� at the Zamzam camp near the town of El-Fasher in North Darfur state. 

Already the largest refugee camp in Sudan with half a million people, Zamzam has become more crowded after war broke out in April 2023 between Sudan鈥檚 army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, according to relief agencies.

Recent reports reveal that the famine-stricken camp is now facing the risk of infectious diseases after it was hit by floods.

The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, warned last May of an 鈥渁cute disaster on a catastrophic scale鈥� happening in the camp as the number of evacuees continued to swell.




In this picture from the humanitarian aid group Medicins Sans Frontieres, people wait to receive treatment at El Fasher hospital in Sudan in May 2023. (MSF photo)

In its statement on Saturday, the ALPS Group welcomed the full opening by the government of Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Kassala and Dongola airports for the UN World Food Program鈥檚 Humanitarian Air Service. 

However, it said, RSF and Sudan Armed Forces should also ensure 鈥渦nhindered and safe access鈥� for relief efforts along the Khartoum route and other routes, including from Khartoum to El Obeid and to Kosti, from Kassala to Wad Medani and beyond. 

The ALPS Group also urged the paramilitary RSF 鈥渢o refrain from any attacks targeting civilians鈥� and the Sudan Armed Forces 鈥渢o stop its widespread aerial bombardments.鈥� 

It also called on international partners to join efforts to reach immediate humanitarian pauses to the fighting to allow humanitarian access and corridors for civilians most in need.