Brussels denounces Sudanese army’s blockade of humanitarian aid from Chad

European Union diplomatic chief Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said on Friday that the decision by the Sudanese army to ban the entry of humanitarian aid from Chad to the Darfur region was “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.” “We strongly condemn the recent ban by the Sudanese de facto authorities on the delivery of crossborder humanitarian assistance from Chad to Sudan,” they said in a joint statement issued on Friday.

The Darfur region under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which went to war with the Sudanese Armed Forces on April 15 amid tensions over army reform and the integration of the militia into the regular forces as part of a political process to put the country back on a democratic path after the 2021 coup. Borrell and Lenarčič noted that “the denial of humanitarian assistance can amount to a war crime under international law,” and recalled that the regular army and the RSF have pledged to protect civilians in the face of the decade-long conflict.

The diplomats also chastised the RSF, saying that “the massive looting of humanitarian supplies by the RSF and affiliated militias,” which is “also prohibited” by international humanitarian law, has “also contributed” to a “dire situation” that has put Sudan “on a verge of a large-scale famine.” According to the statement, the conflict has seriously worsened prospects for food security, disrupted the harvest season, and destroyed health infrastructure. The UN refugee agency warned on Friday that by mid-February Chad had received more than 553,000 refugees from Sudan, making it the main host country where a total of 1.1 million Sudanese already live.