Sudan divisions gaping as UK hosts summit two years since outbreak of civil war

Leading Sudanese politician tells The National country faces permanent discord unless diplomatic solution is found

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivers his opening remarks at the London Sudan conference. Getty Images

The Sudan civil war risks dividing the country leading to “de facto partition”, a leading Sudanese politician has told The National, as more than 20 foreign ministers gathered in London on Tuesday for a humanitarian summit after two years of conflict.

Khalid Omer Yousif, a former cabinet minister who has met UK government and other European officials, issued the warning on the second anniversary of the start of the brutal civil war that has put 30 million Sudanese on the brink of starvation.

“The war is dividing the Sudanese in a way that is unprecedented,” said the leader of a delegation from Sumoud, a coalition of civilian parties led by former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok. "With time, it will lead to a de facto partition of the country.

“Holding [Sudan] together is not going to happen through military means. It’s not going to happen through the victory of one side, which is unlikely to happen. It will only happen through a vision that will bring the Sudanese together.”

Preventing catastrophe

Foreign ministers from around the world, including from the Middle East and the US, met at Lancaster House in London on Tuesday to discuss how to achieve a peaceful end to the conflict. Driving the summit is UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is said to have been deeply affected by the suffering of female Sudanese refugees that he met on the Chad border in January.

“The brutal war in Sudan has devastated the lives of millions and yet much of the world continues to look away,” Mr Lammy said. “We need to act now to stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe, ensuring aid gets to those who need it the most.”

As a result, Britain announced a doubling of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country with a further £120 million in food supplies. Pledges provide international impetus to find a long-term political solution and, more pressingly, improve humanitarian access, officials said.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar attended the summit, with one western official saying the Emirates “had a role to play in ending the conflict”.

Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued an urgent call for peace and an end to suffering on Tuesday. She said the UAE has urged both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to agree to an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire and come to the negotiating table in good faith.

In addition, she condemned the obstruction of aid and "the weaponisation of humanitarian aid and food supplies". "Both parties must allow immediate, safe, and urgent access for humanitarian organisations to reach those in desperate need across Sudan," she said. "The UAE calls on the UN to prevent warring parties from using humanitarian aid for military or political purposes. The lives of millions of civilians depend on it."

Conference outcome

The conference concluded on Tuesday evening with eight participants – Britain, the US, the UAE, the European Commission, France, Germany, Canada and Switzerland highlighting their commitment to provide more than £813 million of funding for Sudan and its neighbours this year.

“The conference participants focused on making progress on our shared goals of ending this conflict and alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people,” the co-chairs of the conference said in a statement. “We reiterated our strong commitment to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Sudan.”

However, it is understood that Mr Lammy was deeply disappointed that the parties could not come together to agree a joint communique statement. But sources told The National that there had been “constructive dialogue” and a “real spirit of co-operation and progress in the room”, bringing the parties closer together than before.

Famine funding gap

With famine spreading across Sudan and 30 million people in desperate need of aid, including 12 million displaced, those attending the conference are expected to pledge more aid.

Mr Yousif, the former minister of cabinet affairs, also hopes the meeting will result in the creation of a high-level contact group on Sudan that could “pressure” the warring parties into a ceasefire and enable the flow of humanitarian aid. He warned of a large “gap in funding” for Sudan, and said he wants “pledging that could fill that gap to finance humanitarian aid operations in Sudan”.

Civil society in Sudan should be at the forefront of a peace process, to allow communities to heal and learn to live together again, he said. “There is a need to start a political dialogue among the people of Sudan … led by civilians,” he told The National. Such a process would require international support, he added.

Previous mediation efforts have failed to put sufficient pressure on the warring parties – the SAF and RSF paramilitary – to agree on a ceasefire, he said. Instead, a single platform for the peace process is needed, with clear consequences for the warring parties who have rejected invitations to peace talks, Mr Yousif said.

Ceasefire momentum

Though the meeting’s focus was on international humanitarian aid, it is hoped it will help “build some international momentum” towards creating pathways for a ceasefire and the political process, said Ahmed Soliman, of Chatham House’s Africa Programme.

But efforts to end the war will be successful only if those involved in Tuesday’s conference agree to “follow up” as a coalition. “There is a need for international co-ordination to think about how the war ends and how you put civilian actors at the heart of that response,” Mr Soliman said. “The next level is much more complex. It needs to build an active high-level coalition to take things forward."

Open crossings

The idea for a conference came after Mr Lammy visited the Adre crossing on the Sudan-Chad border in January to see first-hand the impact of the conflict on refugees and where he met several women who had suffered brutally during the conflict. A Whitehall source told The National that Mr Lammy had been “deeply affected” by the trip and that the conference “was a priority for him”.

“As I saw earlier this year on a visit to Chad’s border with Sudan, the warring parties have shown an appalling disregard for the civilian population of Sudan,” Mr Lammy said. “This conference will bring together the international community to agree a pathway to end the suffering.”

A central requirement will be pressuring the SAF to keep the Adre crossing open permanently, without restrictions. The one-day conference will also identify steps to find a long-term political solution that will be discussed with representatives from the African Union, France, Germany and Kenya, among others.

Another issue is the hundreds of aid workers held up from entering the country due to visa issues, and harassment when inside Sudan. The new British aid will feed 650,000 Sudanese, delivering pulses, cooking oils, salt and cereal to some of the near-starving population, the Foreign Office said.