Sudan: Diplomat seeks genocide label as cholera spreads in IDP camps

Mr Mohamed Khairy Algedail Arbab, Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudan Embassy in Nigeria, has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. The RSF attacked a famine-hit refugee camp in Darfur on Monday, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring 19 others, rescuers said. The RSF stormed […]

Mr Mohamed Khairy Algedail Arbab, Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudan Embassy in Nigeria, has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The RSF attacked a famine-hit refugee camp in Darfur on Monday, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring 19 others, rescuers said.

The RSF stormed Abu Shouk, opening fire inside homes and on the streets, the local Emergency Response Room said, reporting “more than 40 civilians” dead at the camp north of El-Fasher – the last city in the western Darfur region still held by the Sudanese army, at war with the paramilitary group since April 2023.

In recent months, North Darfur state capital El-Fasher and nearby displacement camps have come under renewed attacks by the RSF, after the group withdrew from Sudan’s capital Khartoum earlier this year.

A major RSF offensive in April on Zamzam, a nearby displacement camp, forced tens of thousands of people to flee again, with many of them now sheltering inside El-Fasher.

Speaking with Daily Trust on Tuesday, Arbab said, “The militia continues to shell peaceful cities like Al-Fashir, Kadugli-Dilling, Abyei, Babanosa and also impose blockades and use hunger as a weapon, to force cities into collapse.”

“Actions that, as a government, we see as a silent genocide against civilians, innocent civilians.”

A senior health official had said on Sunday that Malnutrition had killed 63 people, mostly women and children, in just one week in Sudan’s besieged city of El-Fasher.

The official from North Darfur’s health ministry, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the death toll only included those who managed to reach hospitals, adding that many families buried their dead without seeking medical help due to poor security conditions and a lack of transportation.

 

Cholera outbreak

Cholera is ripping through the camps of Tawila in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left with nothing but the water they can boil, to serve as both disinfectant and medicine.

The first cholera cases in Tawila were detected in early June in the village of Tabit, about 25 kilometres south, said Sylvain Penicaud, a project coordinator for French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

“After two weeks, we started identifying cases directly in Tawila, particularly in the town’s displacement camps,” he said.

In the past month, more than 1,500 cases have been treated in Tawila alone, he said, while the UN’s children agency says around 300 of the town’s children have contracted the disease since April.

Across North Darfur state, more than 640,000 children under the age of five are at risk, according to UNICEF.

By July 30, there were 2,140 infections and at least 80 deaths across Darfur, UN figures show.

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhoea and spreads through contaminated water and food.

Causing rapid dehydration, it can kill within hours if left untreated, yet it is preventable and usually easily treatable with oral rehydration solutions.

More severe cases require intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

Ibrahim Adam Mohamed Abdallah, UNICEF’s executive director in Tawila, told journalists his team “advises people to wash their hands with soap, clean the blankets and tarps provided to them and how to use clean water”.

But in the makeshift shelters of Tawila, patched together from thin branches, scraps of plastic and bundles of straw, even those meagre precautions are out of reach.

 

‘Overwhelmed’

Sudan’s conflict, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands and created the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises, according to the United Nations.

In Tawila, health workers are trying to contain the cholera outbreak – but resources are stretched thin.

MSF has opened a 160-bed cholera treatment centre in Tawila, with plans to expand to 200 beds.

A second unit has also been set up in Daba Nyra, one of the most severely affected camps. But both are already overwhelmed, said Penicaud.

Meanwhile, aid convoys remain largely paralysed by the fighting and humanitarian access has nearly ground to a halt.

Armed groups – particularly the RSF – have blocked convoys from reaching those in need.

Meanwhile, the rainy season, which peaks this month, may bring floodwaters that further contaminate water supplies and worsen the crisis.

Any flooding could “heighten the threat of disease outbreaks”, warned UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

 

Call for action

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudan Embassy in Nigeria said the situation in his country requires urgent and decisive international attention.

“We need the international community to shoulder its responsibility to protect civilians and hold accountable those responsible for these attrocities – the militia, its leadership, and the states that sponsor and support it.

“My appeal also goes to our African brothers. If we allow the UAE to bring down Sudan, this will inevitably serve as a catalyst for other groups in the region to follow suit, and no nation will be spared.”

The African Union in a communiqué of the 1293rd Meeting of the Peace and Security Council held on 4 August 2025, on Update on the Situation in Sudan, had expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian and security crisis in Sudan, particularly the famine in El-Fasher, and condemned the creation of a parallel government by the RSF.

The council called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities and urged all parties to commit to inclusive, inter-Sudanese political dialogue.

It reaffirmed support for Sudan’s democratic transition, welcomed the appointment of a civilian Prime Minister, and stressed the need for coordinated international efforts under AU and IGAD leadership.

The PSC also denounced external interference, urged protection of civilians and respect for international law, and called for consolidation of peace initiatives into a single AU-led process.

In its earlier meeting held on 29 July 2025, following the announcement on Saturday 26 July 2025 of the establishment of a parallel government in the Republic of Sudan by the Sudanese coalition (Tasis) led by the RSF, the PSC strongly condemned the move, rejecting any attempt to fragment the country.

Reaffirming respect for Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Council urged all AU Member States and the international community not to recognise or support the so-called parallel government.

The AU reiterated its recognition of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and the newly formed civilian transitional government as the legitimate authorities, calling for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, a return to negotiations, and an inclusive national dialogue.

Arbab assured of the government is always ready to seek peace, but in accordance with the conditions of the Sudanese people.

He said the militia has recently intensified its efforts to submit false allegations to international and regional organizations regarding alleged violations by the Sudanese Armed Forces. “These claims aim to secure a ban on Sudanese military air operations. These allegations are false; in fact, it is the militia that commits crimes and violations against civilians—crimes that have been documented in several published reports, with some of these violations even filmed by the militia members themselves. These institutions must confront the militia’s claims and hold it accountable for them”.