UN Relief Chief Warns of Epic Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, Xinhua: The acting UN relief chief on Wednesday warned that without urgent international action, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan will erupt into epic proportions.

Joyce Msuya, the acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said that the humanitarian situation in Sudan is beyond appalling. 

Speaking at a high-level event on the margins of the UN General Assembly General Debate, she said the war has triggered what is now among the world’s most significant displacement crises.

More than half the population of Sudan — 25.6 million people — is acutely food insecure. Msuya also urged UN member states to use all their leverage to bring the horrific violations of international humanitarian law and the abuses of human rights law to an end. 

The event, “The Cost of Inaction: Urgent and Collective Support to Scale up the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region,” was co-hosted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency and member states. 

Filippo Grandi, the high commissioner for refugees, said more than 10 million Sudanese are fleeing the violence. “If people don’t die because of bullets, they starve to death,” he said.

“If they manage to survive, they must face disease or floods, or the threat of sexual violence and other horrifying abuse.” Grandi said that in two visits to Sudan this year, the conditions he witnessed were apocalyptic.