Sudan: war on the brink of ethnic violence

A member of the Sudanese armed forces looks on as he holds his weapon in the street in Omdurman - REUTERS/EL TAYEB SIDDIG

Enrique Fernández

27 de noviembre de 2024 (09:00 h.)

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After more than 18 months of conflict, 14 million displaced and more than 61,000 war deaths, the fighting threatens to follow in Rwanda's footsteps

Growing tensions between Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) could turn into serious trouble between the 19 tribes living under the control of either force.

Sudan is a mix of 500 ethnic groups, including Arabs, who make up the majority of its population, and non-Arabs, such as the Nuba in the south, and the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, who have their roots in Darfur.

A convoy of government troops in the village of Tabit in Sudan's North Darfur region - AP/ABD RAOUF

Since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, more than 500 people related to these tribes have suffered from cases of sexual violence by FAR paramilitaries, according to Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the document published by the Ministry, most of the atrocities took place in Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Gezira. According to South African Institute for Security Studies expert Rimadji Huinathi, the attacks suffered by the tribes of North Darfur could involve the presence of Chadian militias in the conflict.

FAR has also been accused on numerous occasions by the international community of committing crimes against humanity, and of abducting and recruiting more than 16,000 children in Sudan.

Furthermore, it was warned that the paramilitaries use sexual violence as part of their ‘strategy of genocide and ethnic cleansing directed at specific ethnic groups’, whereby they ‘kill all the men in those groups and rape women and girls in order to give birth to children who can be members of the tribes of the militia fighters’.

According to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the crisis in Sudan is ‘the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet’. At the same time, some of the NGOs operating in the country have warned that the war-related crisis is causing new outbreaks of cholera.

A woman and baby in Zamzam IDP camp near El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan - MSF/MOHAMED ZAKARIA via REUTERS

The country is home to 49 million people, more than half of them suffering from hunger, belonging to 19 tribes and around 500 clans. The proliferation of FAR attacks has led many of these tribes to take up arms to defend themselves.

Following Russia's solitary veto of the resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan, the conflict is unlikely to end in the coming months. Quite the contrary, as it is estimated that if the inter-tribal fighting continues and escalates, the country could enter a cycle of violence with incalculable consequences. Ethnic violence now threatens to take Sudan down the path of genocide similar to what happened in Rwanda 30 years ago.