Blitz Bureau
THE United Arab Emirates is concerned over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan, with severe food insecurity affecting over 25 million Sudanese citizens.
“We express our deepest concern over the declared famine in parts of North Darfur, particularly in Zamzam camp, which shelters over half a million displaced people, the likelihood of famine in the Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps, and the nine additional Sudanese states where people are living in catastrophic hunger conditions,” it said, according to WAM.
The UAE welcomed the UN Security Council meeting which highlights the urgency of the situation of famine in Sudan. It is imperative that the international community maintains its focus on Sudan.
“The UAE affirms that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan demands an emergency response that helps secure a ceasefire and facilitates the swift delivery of humanitarian aid. Trucks full of lifesaving aid are held on the border of Sudan while thousands starve across the country, including in Zamzam Camp and Northern Darfur. The Sudanese Armed Forces must lift its restrictions on humanitarian access and the Rapid Support Forces must ensure that organisations and humanitarian workers are allowed to operate safely, without fear of attack, in order to reach people in need,” it said. The UAE also unequivocally condemned the use of starvation as a weapon of war, the denial of humanitarian access for civilians in need, and the indiscriminate attacks that make it impossible for people to receive assistance.
The UAE said that the harrowing developments on the ground require the urgent scale-up of cross-border and cross-line humanitarian access to save millions of lives. The international community cannot allow the people of Sudan to be used as a political bargaining chip. It called on the Security Council to utilise all the tools at its disposal to address the catastrophic situation in Sudan.
