Situation in Sudan (per 2 May)

  • Sudanese doctors warn that the health system is collapsing. The bodies left in the streets are causing contamination of water sources, causing people to drink from sources such as the Nile river.
  • Due to lack of supplies, many hospitals that are still operational are only able to provide basic first aid.
  • The World Food Programme (WFP) relaunched services in Sudan, announcing it will deliver aid in Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile in the coming days.
  • Most of the humanitarian supplies in Sudan have been decimated by looting, warns UN OCHA. It is exploring ways to bring in and distribute new supplies. 
  • BBC World is launching an Arabic-language emergency radio broadcast, which will be broadcast twice a day via shortwave radio and the internet to provide news on emergency services in Sudan.
  • The Red Sea State in Sudan declares a state of emergency for 30 days. Permission of authorities is needed for transport of ‘strategic’ goods. Security forces have been given powers under emergency law.

Situation in Eritrea (per 2 May)

  • The Eritrean  government has set up a processing centre in Teseney (Eritrea). No UN agencies are involved in the processing in Teseney.
  • While Eritrea has been communicating it is ‘evacuating’ Eritreans from Sudan, observers report that no Eritreans are returning, except for those reportedly being “kidnapped by the Eritrean authorities”.
  • The involuntary deportation of tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees from Tigray in 2021 to Eritrea is creating fear that the same may happen in Sudan to Eritrean refugees located in camps under international protection. Eritrean security forces are active in these camps, located in east Sudan.
  • Nine Eritreans have died because they jumped out of moving buses involuntarily taking them to Eritrea.
  • China used the Eritrean offer to help with evacuations of persons from Sudan through Asmara airport.
  • Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed warned non-Ethiopian forces to stop destabilising Ethiopia and interfering in its affairs, speaking in relation to the killing of Amhara PP Head Girma Yeshitilla and five others.
  • Observers believe this statement refers to Eritrea and that it is a clear PM Abiy is distancing himself from President Isaias referring to ‘external forces’ and asking Eritrea ‘to stop meddling’.
  • The bimonthly magazine of the Eritrean opposition party EPDP in exile observes: “The Eritrean tyrant was involved practically in all armed hostilities in the region since the 1990s.”
  • EPDP adds that “Every observer saw his fingerprints all over in the tragic developments in Ethiopia of the past two years. Now, it is Sudan’s turn to burn.”

Situation in Ethiopia (per 2 May)

  • 47 suspects have been arrested in relation to the killing of Amhara PP Head Girma Yeshitilla and five others. The government blames ‘extremist forces’ in Amhara.
  • The WFP temporarily suspended deliveries of food to the Tigray region amidst an investigation into stealing of supplies. WFP announced this to humanitarian partners on 20 April, states AP.
  • The Ethiopian Parliament Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and Peace has assessed the damage in Afar caused by the war in northern Ethiopia with Tigray.
  • The total damage is estimated at 45 billion Birr (830 million USD, according to regional state authorities.
  • The coordinator of the Team, Dr Baye, said that priority should be given to children affected by the war, especially those physically injured by the war.
  • The Commissioner of the Afar Region Disaster Risk and Food Security Commission, Mr. Hussein, stated that 664 million people in Afar have been displaced by the war. They are receiving support.
  • The head of the regional education bureau of Afar, Mr Abdu Hussein, informed that a total of 344 schools were destroyed in Afar. So far only 25 have been rebuilt and are operational.
  • The water supply problem in Afar is being solved, using solar energy, according to the statement.

Situation of refugees (per 2 May)

  • Djibouti warns migrants/refugees without required documentation to leave its territory within 30 days.
  • Authorities in Tunisia are reportedly considering building additional graveyards for refugees that wash up on the shore. The capacity in the morgues is no longer adequate for the number of deaths.
  • In Kenya demonstrations are held in Kisumu, with the support of opposition leader Raila Odinga. The demonstrations are held under the banner of #MaandamanoTuesday, which means Tuesday Protest.

International Situation (per 2 May)

  • Hemedti held a meeting in Asmara in March 2023 following Russian Minister Lavrov’s visit to Eritrea. This possibly included Wagner members. This points to the possibility of Eritrean involvement in the Sudan conflict.
  • The UAE issued a statement that it supports “all political initiatives aimed at finding a consensual solution that spares the brotherly Sudanese people the scourge of war and division”.
  • The UAE statement reads that it “supports peaceful solutions and rejects the principle of resorting to force to resolve any crisis, as the course of war will only lead to more escalation and fighting.”
  • The African Union issued a statement on Sudan, stating that no military action can solve the crisis and any political process must be inclusive and Sudanese-owned. It rejects foreign interference.
  • The AU Commission is meeting today to discuss the situation in Sudan.
  • Kenyan President William Ruto convened a virtual meeting on 1 May with African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat and former Prime Minister of Sudan Abdallah Hamdok, as well as the UN Envoy, Martin Griffith, who was in Nairobi, as well as heads of UN agencies
  • The meeting discussed ways to provide humanitarian support and aid to Sudan, and distribute it. 
  • Foreign Policy expresses increased concern that the conflict in the Horn destabilises Chad and impacts the Sahel region. Other observers are concerned with destabilisation of South Sudan.

Links of interest

WFP resumes operations in Sudan, amid full-blown humanitarian ‘catastrophe’

Red Sea State Sudan declares state of emergency

Twitter: UNOCHA

Medics in Sudan warn of crisis as health system near collapse

BBC World Service launches emergency pop-up radio service for Sudan

Ethiopia People’s House of Representatives on Afar

EPDP Liberty Magazine No 72

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዐቢይ በወቅታዊ ጉዳይ ላይ ያስተላለፉት መልዕክት

Ethiopia: 47 arrests after murder of Girma Yeshitila, head of Abiy’s Prosperity Party party in Amhara

Tunisia considers building new graveyards for refugees washing up on the shore

Evacuation of Chinese citizens through Eritrea

UAE Statement on the war in Sudan

UN agency suspends food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray amid theft

African Union Condemns Violence in Sudan, Calls for Humanitarian Ceasefire and Urges Coordinated International Support to the Sudanese People Amidst Armed Confrontation

President Ruto rallies humanitarian support for Sudan

Demonstrations Tuesday Protest Kenya tweet Raila Odinga

UN Chief Martin Griffith meets leaders in Nairobi on Sudan

Foreign Policy Destabilisation of the Sahel Region

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