Sudan on the Brink: Global Inaction Risks Catastrophe as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

The international community stands at a critical inflection point as Sudan plunges further into one of the most devastating humanitarian catastrophes in recent history. In a searing testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Africa Subcommittee, Daniel P. Sullivan, Director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International, painted a harrowing picture of the country’s descent into chaos—marked by escalating violence, mass displacement, and impending famine. The crisis, he warned, demands immediate and coordinated international action.

Two years have passed since conflict erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, Sudan has become home to the world’s fastest-growing displacement emergency. More than 13 million people have been uprooted, with 4 million fleeing the country’s borders. Today, half of Sudan’s population—over 24 million people—require urgent humanitarian assistance. Famine has already taken hold in at least ten regions and is projected to spread to 17 more, unless urgent aid is deployed.

Atrocities Escalate as Aid Pipeline Collapses

The conflict between the SAF and RSF has intensified with both factions accused of committing war crimes, including ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide. The humanitarian situation deteriorated further following RSF attacks on Port Sudan—once the country’s main humanitarian lifeline—resulting in SAF reprisals that devastated essential civilian infrastructure.

Eyewitness reports and investigations confirm widespread atrocities: mass killings, systematic sexual violence, and the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war. At a time when humanitarian need has reached unprecedented levels, critical aid is disappearing. U.S. foreign aid freezes have crippled the ability of relief organizations to respond on the ground. As a result, 70 percent of Sudan’s 1,400 community kitchens have been forced to shut down, slashing food access for nearly 3 million people. Medical services are equally imperiled, with at least 335 healthcare facilities ceasing operations due to resource shortages.

“We are witnessing the preventable death of thousands,” Sullivan testified. “And the rainy season threatens to cut off Darfur entirely, making the delivery of supplies virtually impossible in some areas.”

Local Resilience, Global Neglect

Amid the collapse of institutional aid mechanisms, Sudan’s grassroots networks have become the last line of defense for many communities. Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs)—formed by local resistance committees—have emerged as the most trusted and effective agents for delivering humanitarian relief. Operating under extreme duress, these mutual aid groups are navigating both SAF and RSF hostility, financial deprivation, and the looming threat of arrest or assassination.

ERR volunteers stationed at the Chad-Sudan border report escalating intimidation, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Despite their vital role, these groups remain severely underfunded and dangerously vulnerable. Refugees International underscored the strategic importance of empowering ERRs not just for immediate aid distribution, but as the foundation for long-term recovery, localized governance, and peacebuilding in Sudan’s fractured society.

Arms, Accountability, and the UAE Factor

The crisis is further compounded by international actors fueling the conflict through proxy support. Nations including Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have been accused of backing one side or the other. Most troubling is the role of the United Arab Emirates. Investigations suggest that the UAE has supplied weapons to the RSF under the guise of humanitarian assistance via its Red Crescent—a maneuver that potentially constitutes a war crime under international law.

The controversy intensified when the United States proposed a $1.6 billion arms deal with the UAE, triggering bipartisan outrage in Washington. Legislators are now pushing for Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the sale, citing the UAE’s complicity in the ongoing atrocities, particularly in Darfur.

‍A Regional Time Bomb

Sudan’s collapse is sending shockwaves throughout the region. Chad is currently sheltering more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees. Egypt, overwhelmed by an estimated 1.5 million displaced Sudanese, has begun deportations, compounding the crisis. In South Sudan, a country already teetering on the brink of political instability, over 1.1 million returnees and refugees have flooded in—exhausting limited resources and inflaming social tensions.

Despite the scale of this regional fallout, global assistance remains grossly inadequate. With the rainy season fast approaching and major routes set to become impassable, the window to pre-position essential supplies is rapidly closing.

Call to Action

In response to the deepening catastrophe, Refugees International issued a sweeping policy appeal to the U.S. Congress and global allies. The organization called for the immediate restoration and expansion of humanitarian aid—particularly to grassroots ERR networks—as well as the establishment of protected humanitarian corridors and the lifting of access restrictions to conflict zones. It urged a suspension of all arms transfers to countries supplying weapons to Sudanese belligerents, with special attention to the UAE. Additionally, Refugees International called for the appointment of a U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and the revival of the bipartisan Sudan Caucus in Congress.

“The world must act decisively,” Sullivan concluded. “We have the tools and the resources. What we need now is the political will.”

With the threat of history repeating itself in Darfur and millions of lives hanging in the balance, the consequences of inaction are not merely humanitarian. They are economic, geopolitical, and moral. The time to intervene is not tomorrow. It is now.

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