Why is the International Community Failing to Fulfill Its Obligations Towards the Sudanese?

Sudanhorizon – Othman Siddiq

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organized a high-level mission to Egypt last week, under the title “Education Cannot Wait”, which pointed to the lack of funding and called for an urgent increase in international support for children forcibly displaced during the armed conflict in Sudan, both within Sudan itself and in neighboring countries.

Egypt has been more fortunate than these refugees due to cultural and geographical considerations and the eternal relations between the peoples of the Nile Valley. Africa News Agency reported (Saturday) that more than 748,000 refugees and asylum seekers have been registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt so far, most of them women and children who recently arrived fleeing the civil war that began in Sudan in April 2023. The number of Sudanese refugees has increased by almost seven times since the beginning of this conflict, and their number is expected to grow even more.

Continuing the War Means Continuing the Flow of Victims

With the continuation of the war and the failure of the American mediation (Jeddah – Geneva), the number of victims (dead, displaced, and refugees) increases geometrically. At the same time, the resources provided by the United Nations agencies and other strategic partners diminish.

The Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan for 2024 was estimated at (109) million dollars to meet the educational needs of refugees across the region. So far, only 20% of this amount has been met, including 4.3 million dollars, or 40% of Egypt’s needs. With 9,000 children arriving in Egypt every month – according to statistics from the international organization – about 54% of newly arrived children are currently out of school, according to a recent assessment by UNICEF and the World Bank.

Needs Are Rapidly Outpacing Response

People fleeing conflict in Sudan have suffered unspeakable violence, their lives have been shattered, and school-age youth have been displaced by armed attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – a group that defies all local and international norms and laws – destroying educational institutions and disrupting people’s lives, including work and freedom of movement – ​​except on foot or pack animals – in most, if not all, areas where their forces have deployed. Yet education is nothing less than a lifeline. “Education Cannot Wait”. It provides children with protection and a sense of normalcy amidst chaos, and gives them the resources they need to heal and thrive again,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of the Global Education Fund for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises. “In the spirit of shared responsibility enshrined in the Global Compact on Refugees, I call on international donors to step up their support. Additional resources are urgently needed so that refugee and host community children in Egypt and other host countries in the region can attend school and continue learning. The future of the entire region is at stake and forcibly displaced children should not be denied their basic right to continue their education. Fleeing conflict should no longer be an obstacle to their rights,” said Jeremy Hopkins, UNICEF Representative in Egypt. “UNICEF is determined to ensure that Sudanese children affected by conflict have the opportunity to return to school.” UNICEF, under the leadership of the Egyptian government, and in collaboration with sister UN agencies and development partners, is working hard to create inclusive learning environments and strengthen resilient education systems and services.

In December 2023, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) announced a $2 million grant for the first emergency response in Egypt. Over a period of 12 months, implemented by UNHCR in partnership with UNICEF, it is expected to reach more than 20,000 Sudanese refugees in the governorates of Aswan, Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. ECW has also allocated $8 million in emergency first response grants to the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan to address the urgent protection and education needs of children fleeing armed conflict in Sudan.

Why is the Militia Not Classified as a Terrorist Organization?

The Geneva Forum failed to implement what was agreed upon in the Jeddah Forum – the point is not in the negotiation sessions, but in the ability and keenness of the mediators and observers to implement what was agreed upon firsthand before proceeding to put other detailed items on the negotiating table. Despite the United States’ claim that it is the sponsor of democracy and the free world in the world, it and the international community did not have the serious desire and necessary keenness to stop the violations of the Rapid Support Forces militia of international humanitarian law.

The number of civilian victims has increased despite the scarcity of financial resources available to meet the needs of the affected displaced persons and refugees. Since the amount collected from the pledges made by donors is only 20% of the current estimates, this means that the gap will widen as long as the militia attacks continue. We fear that the day will come when the international community will announce its failure to provide humanitarian support, just as it failed to classify the Rapid Support Forces as a terrorist militia despite the crimes it has committed and continues to commit for 16 months.

The international community has so far failed to fulfill its minimum obligations towards the Sudanese, whether those who have sought refuge in neighboring countries, those who have been displaced to safe states, or host communities within Sudan. The failure is not limited to not meeting the needs guaranteed to them by international humanitarian law, but also to not exerting sufficient pressure on the parties that are fueling the war and continuing to provide logistical and financial support and political cover to the Rapid Support Militia to continue its war against the Sudanese people, without classifying it as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that it meets all the criteria adopted by the international community.