Rédaction Africa Links 24 with SudanTribune
Published on 2024-03-06 10:28:40
On March 6, 2024, the Sudanese government officially approved the use of the Al-Tina crossing on the Chad-El-Fasher route for the delivery of designated humanitarian aid to the Darfur region. This decision was communicated in a statement released by the foreign ministry, which also informed the United Nations of the approval. The statement emphasized that the use of the Al-Tina crossing must be in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution No. 1591, which imposed an arms embargo on Darfur in 2005.
Additionally, the foreign ministry mentioned several other access routes for humanitarian aid, including the Port Sudan – Atbara – Mellit – El Fasher route, the Red Sea route from Egypt to Port Sudan, the Wadi Halfa-Dongola crossing, and the Renk – Kosti route via river and land transport from South Sudan. In case of difficulties with land routes, airports in El Fasher, Kadugli, and El Obeid could be used as alternative access points.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkwita Salami, welcomed the Sudanese government’s facilitation of humanitarian aid delivery through the Al-Tina border crossing into Darfur and from South Sudan via Renk’s border crossing to Kosti. Additionally, humanitarian flights to El Fasher, Kadugli, and El Obeid airports were approved.
In response to the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan, USAID Administrator Samantha Power held discussions with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Army. Administrator Power emphasized the need to re-establish cross-border access from Chad, eliminate bureaucratic obstacles, and ensure safe, sustained, and unobstructed humanitarian access for aid workers to deliver life-saving assistance promptly.
The delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur was abruptly halted when permits for the World Food Programme’s cross-border truck convoys from Chad were revoked. These convoys had been a lifeline for over a million people in West and Central Darfur since August. With hunger and malnutrition on the rise in the region, the WFP had been expanding its operations to meet the increasing needs, but the recent ban had hindered these efforts.
WFP chief Cindy McCain warned that the situation in Sudan could lead to the world’s largest hunger crisis. She stressed the urgent need for unimpeded access in Sudan to address the escalating food insecurity, which would have significant long-term consequences for the region. McCain visited Renk in eastern South Sudan, where nearly 600,000 people had crossed from Sudan in the past 10 months. She witnessed the dire conditions in crowded transit camps where families arrived hungry and faced even more hunger.
In conclusion, the approval of the Al-Tina crossing for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur and the discussions between international officials and Sudanese authorities reflect the ongoing efforts to address the urgent humanitarian needs in the region. The focus remains on ensuring safe and unimpeded access for aid delivery and addressing the escalating food insecurity in Sudan.
Read the original article on Sudan Tribune
