Foreign ministers decry 'apocalyptic' atrocities in Sudan

Members of the international community said that the war in Sudan had not received enough attention as tens of thousands of people were at risk after the fall of El Fasher.

More than 65,000 people have fled El Fasher in Darfur after it was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26, according to the United Nations, but many others remain at risk inside the city.

"Sudan is absolutely an apocalyptic situation," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on Saturday.

Aid won't solve crisis — UK foreign secretary

Fighting has raged in Sudan between the military and its former ally, the RSF, since 2023. The United Arab Emirates has been accused of fueling the crisis by providing weapons and other support to the RSF.

In Bahrain, British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said: "No amount of aid can resolve a crisis of this magnitude until the guns fall silent."

"Mass executions, starvation and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war, with women and children bearing the brunt of the largest humanitarian crisis in the 21st century," Cooper added.

"For too long, this terrible conflict has been neglected, while suffering has simply increased."

International community 'more or less silent'

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also said the civil war in Sudan had not received adequate attention.

"A humanitarian crisis of inhumane proportions has taken place there," he said in Bahrain.

The World Health Organisation said the international community must do more to prevent atrocities committed by the RSF, including mass killings, rapes and the picking off of men trying to flee.

"This is something we have known for months, if not years, and the international community has been more or less silent," WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told DW.

MSF says fleeing civilians in grave danger

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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said people in el-Fasher remained in "grave danger" as RSF fighters prevent them from escaping from the city.

But the medical NGO also fears for the people who have fled the city.

MSF also said only 5,000 people had managed to reach safety in Tawila, an enclave around 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of el-Fasher that is almost completely surrounded by RSF-controlled territory.

This number is significantly lower than the estimated 65,000 who have fled el-Fasher.

MSF's head of emergencies, Michel Olivier Lacharite, said the numbers "don't add up, while accounts of large-scale atrocities are mounting."

"Where are all the missing people who have already survived months of famine and violence in El Fasher?" he said. "The most likely, albeit frightening, answer is that they are being killed, blocked and hunted down when trying to flee."