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

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 “are now moving across conflict lines from Port of Sudan through Shendi to Khartoum,” wider access must be ensured for relief efforts “to reach the heartland of the crisis and contain the famine.”

This “expansion 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,” the statement said.

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

The group includes Saudi Arabia, the US, Switzerland, the UAE, Egypt, the African Union, and the UN. 

During the virtual meeting, the group noted an instance of “catastrophic malnutrition” 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’s 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 “acute disaster on a catastrophic scale” happening in the camp as the number of evacuees continued to swell.

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’s Humanitarian Air Service. 

However, it said, RSF and Sudan Armed Forces should also ensure “unhindered and safe access” 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 “to refrain from any attacks targeting civilians” and the Sudan Armed Forces “to stop its widespread aerial bombardments.” 

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.