S.Sudan: Kiir's deputies take oath of office including Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior - The economy is in ruins, 5m need aid, 188,528 crammed into UN camps

Kiir's deputies take oath of office

Report by Radio Tamazuj.org dated 22 February 2020 (JUBA) - South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar has been sworn in as first vice-president in a boost for the peace agreement aimed at ending six years of conflict.

Mr. Machar took up the top post under the terms of the 2018 peace deal, implementation of which had been repeatedly delayed by disputes.

The main opposition leader took the oath of office alongside three other vice presidents appointed by President Salva Kiir last night as per the peace deal.

Those appointed vice presidents include James Wani Igga, Taban Deng Gai and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior. The fourth vice president position remains vacant as members of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) have not settled on a candidate for the position.

If peace holds, the transitional government of national unity will now have to embark on reforms to pave the way for general elections in three years’ time.

The economy is currently in ruins, nearly five million people need aid and 188,528 people are crammed into UN peacekeeping camps across the country.

The conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people has spawned a massive refugee crisis, pushing many of those fleeing the fighting to neighboring countries.

Speaking at the presidential palace after taking the oath of office today, Dr. Machar said he is determined to work with President Kiir and other peace partners to end the devastating conflict.

"It is our hope that the formation of the revitalized transitional government will create a new momentum and a new spirit of commitment and cooperation in the implementation process of the agreement in order to avoid the delays experienced during the pre-transitional period," Machar said.

"I would like to reiterate my commitment and the commitment of the SPLM/A-IO to work closely with the peace partners and particularly President Kiir Mayardit to implement the agreement in letter and spirit. May God bless South Sudan," he added.

For his part, President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who called Machar "my brother", said he will work closely with the opposition to establish lasting and sustainable peace in the country.

Kiir advanced a message of reconciliation and forgiveness to his opponents, saying he has forgiven his archrival Riek Machar. “I want to reiterate here and now that I have forgiven my brother Dr. Riek Machar and I also ask for his forgiveness,” Kiir said. 

The president also offered a rare apology to the South Sudanese people for the devastating conflict, calling upon internally displaced persons and refugees to return home to rebuild their lives.

“I am inviting the people of South Sudan to forgive one another. Particularly, I want to appeal to the Nuer and Dinka communities to forgive and reconcile with one another,” he said.

“I also appeal to the people of Equatoria, especially those who have experienced much of the devastation to forgive and reconcile,” he added.

The South Sudanese leader called on holdout opposition groups to join the peace process, saying he plans to put an end to the conflict in the world’s youngest nation.

Kiir called on the international community to provide support as all parties to the peace agreement embark on rebuilding the country. [Note from Sudan Watch editor: Get lost Kiir you greedy monster, you've had over 15 years in power. You and your enemy Riek Machar should be in the dock at the International Criminal Court in The Hague begging for mercy for the slaying and starvation of millions of Sudanese and ruination of millions of lives. Or go join your kids in your beloved Kenya and get back under the rock you crawled from. Pope Francis knew he was facing evil when he got down on his knees to kiss your feet. God help you]

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/kiir-s-deputies-take-oath-of-office

POSTSCRIPT

Note that Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior is a South Sudanese politician. She has served as the Minister of Roads and Transport for the autonomous government of Southern Sudan, and as an advisor for the President of South Sudan. She is the widow of Dr. John Garang de Mabior, the late first Vice-President of Sudan and the President of the Government of South Sudan, and the mother of Akuol de Mabior. She is from the Dinka tribe of Twic East County of South Sudan. Read more at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Nyandeng_De_Mabior

Photo: South Sudan's Fourth Vice-President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior takes the oath of office in front of Chief of Justice Chan Reech Madut in Juba, South Sudan, on Saturday. ANDREEA CAMPEANU/REUTERS. From China Daily.com: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/24/WS5e5322f3a310128217279ad7.html

Photo: South Sudan's First Vice President Riek Machar takes the oath of office at the State House in Juba, 22 February 2020. REUTERS/Jok Solomun Text by: RFI Full story: http://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20200223-south-sudan-rebel-leader-machar-sworn-vice-president-civil-war-salva-kiir

S. Sudan citizens 'deliberately starved' by warring parties: UN - Hunger is being used as a weapon - Fighting left 380,000 dead and forced 4 million to flee

Hunger is being used as a weapon in South Sudan's six-year-old conflict, the [UN] report says

S.Sudan citizens 'deliberately starved' by warring parties: UN

Report by AFP by FRAN BLANDY

Dated 20 February 2020

South Sudan's government forces and other armed groups have "deliberately starved" civilians by denying aid access and displacing communities, a United Nations rights probe said Thursday.

In a report issued two days before a deadline to form a unity government, the three-member commission looked into abuses from the signing of a peace deal in September 2018 to December 2019.

The panel delivered a damning indictment of "predatory and unaccountable elites" and the suffering of civilians after six years of conflict.

"Today in South Sudan, civilians are deliberately starved, systematically surveilled and silenced, arbitrarily arrested and detained and denied meaningful access to justice," it said.

As President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar met in Juba to discuss outstanding obstacles to the power-sharing government, the report slammed the process as beset with delays and bickering, and "lack of political will".

"Political elites remained oblivious to the intense suffering of millions of civilians for whom they were ostensibly fighting," it said.

Ongoing recruitment of child soldiers by both government forces and rebel groups, bloody localised conflicts which left hundreds dead, sexual violence and theft of public funds continued unhindered by the latest peace process, the commissioners found.

"The Commission notes with grave concern that beyond climate-induced factors, both government forces and armed groups have pursued policies responsible for the starvation of the population in Wau and Unity State" in the north of the country.

"The denial of humanitarian access and displacement brought about by unlawful tactics have significantly exacerbated famine in different parts of the country, depriving hundreds of thousands of civilins of vital needs, including access to food."

During the period reviewed by the commission, some 6.35 million people -- 54 percent of the population -- were facing severe hunger.

- Major challenges -

South Sudan's conflict broke out in December 2013 after a dispute between Kiir and his former deputy and longtime rival Machar.

The fighting has left some 380,000 dead and forced four million to flee their homes.

The September 2018 peace deal is the latest effort to end the conflict and push the two men to govern together -- an experiment which has twice previously ended in disaster.

Sticky issues of state borders and security arrangements remain with just two days to the deadline, which has already been pushed back twice.

However even if the unity government is formed, the UN report highlights the massive challenges facing the country -- which only achieved independence in 2011 -- going forward.

Across the country, local ethnic conflicts far removed from the national peace process left 531 dead between February and May 2019 alone, and fighting continues today against holdout rebel groups in the Equatoria region, the report said.

Meanwhile, graft has robbed the state of precious resources.

"Corruption has made several officials extremely wealthy at the expense of millions of starving civilians," said the report, which found millions of dollars in tax collections had been diverted and disappeared.

Both the government and armed groups continued to recruit children during the period reviewed, with 19,000 children believed to be enlisted.

Additionally, some 2.2 million children did not attend school and 30 percent of schools remain closed.

View Original: https://news.yahoo.com/sudan-citizens-deliberately-starved-warring-parties-un-104700741.html

Sudan to hand Bashir for trial by ICC - Sudan launches investigation into Darfur crimes and alert to Interpol

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Here below is a news report from the FT dated 11 February 2020 entitled 'Sudan to send al-Bashir for trial at The Hague'. The report says, quote "Sudan will send Omar al-Bashir, its former leader who was ousted in a coup last April, to The Hague to stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur, according to a top Sudanese official".

Also copied below are some excerpts from an in-depth online BBC report dated 22 December 2019 entitled 'Darfur conflict: Sudan launches investigation into crimes'. The report states that Mr Bashir's former intelligence chief Mr Salah Gosh is among those under investigation, that there are four cases against Mr Gosh and that investigators have started a procedure to bring him back to Sudan by Interpol. The report goes on to say, quote "it is unclear whether Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo is under investigation. A former Janjaweed militia leader in Darfur, he turned against Bashir as protests grew and was named vice-president of Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) after Bashir was forced out".

Incidentally, ten years ago the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr Bashir was one of 51 names recommended by the UN in 2005 for prosecution by the ICC for Darfur atrocities. Mr Gosh, reportedly currently residing in Egypt, is on the list.

Surprisingly, the current vice-president of Sudan's TMC, Gen Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - unless previously known by another name - does not appear to be on the list. Perhaps because the list is dated 2005 and Hemeti's Darfur war crimes were not committed until several years later (or to be precise: subsequent to 2013 according to Eric Reeves' tweet dated 16 Feb 2020 [ https://twitter.com/sudanreeves/status/1229111767990562816 ] regarding Hemeti complaining about himself being marginalised (you can't make this stuff up) by the Hamdok government and calling for a code of conduct! 

The List of Top wanted Janjaweed leaders - Who's who on Darfur (Africa Confidential) published online in 2005 can be found under ‘Further Reading’ below. 

- - -

Copy of online news report from The Financial Times - www.ft.com

By DAVID PILLING in London 

Publication date: 11 February 2020

Title: Sudan to send al-Bashir for trial at The Hague

Former leader could face charges for genocide and crimes against humanity

Photo: Omar al-Bashir was toppled in April last year after ruling Sudan for 30 years © Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty

Sudan will send Omar al-Bashir, its former leader who was ousted in a coup last April, to The Hague to stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur, according to a top Sudanese official.

Without naming Mr Bashir specifically, Mohamed al-Hassan al-Taishi, a civilian member of Sudan’s joint military-civilian sovereign council, told a press conference on Tuesday that anyone facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court would face trial in The Hague. 

“We agreed that everyone who had arrest warrants issued against them will appear before the ICC. I’m saying it very clearly,” Mr al-Taishi said, according to multiple reports. 

Mr Bashir, who ruled Sudan for 30 years, was toppled last year after months of protests in which millions of ordinary Sudanese took to the streets demanding his resignation. His regime was accused of committing atrocities, including murder and rape, in Darfur, a region in the west of the country, during an uprising against Khartoum. 

Last July, the military agreed to share power with civilians as part of a 3½-year transition towards democratic elections. Mr Bashir is currently in prison in Khartoum. 

We hope he will be sent [to The Hague], said Michel Arditti, permanent secretary to Abdul Wahid al-Nour, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a rebel group in Sudan that fought against Mr Bashir’s regime. 

Mr Arditti cautioned that some loyalists to Mr Bashir’s regime opposed extradition, although he said there were members of the sovereign council, including General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the chairman, and Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti, who might be willing to “trade him in”. 

Last week Mr Burhan took the unusual step of meeting Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in Uganda while he is due to visit Washington for a meeting with Michael Pompeo, US secretary of state, this month. “This could be seen as painting a new picture of Sudan moving back into the international fold,” said Jonas Horner, a Sudan expert with the Crisis Group.

Mr Horner said giving up Mr Bashir could even be part of negotiations aimed at removing Khartoum from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, essential to get investments flowing back into a Sudanese economy that is on its knees.

Sudan’s new government is desperate to show that it can improve lives for those who rose up against Mr Bashir, but it has made slow progress. Sporadic protests have continued throughout the country and splits have emerged within the sovereign council.

The ICC has been pressing for the trial of Mr Bashir for war crimes following his conviction in a Sudanese court last December for minor crimes of money laundering.

The UN estimates that up to 400,000 people died in the conflict in Darfur and nearly 3m more were displaced, with militia formed by Mr Bashir blamed for the worst atrocities.

The ICC has a patchy record in prosecuting people for serious war crimes. Last year it sentenced Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese former rebel leader, to 30 years in prison. Mr Arditti said it was not clear whether the ICC, which has not been able to send investigators to Sudan, had assembled a watertight case against Mr Bashir.

Calls made by the FT to the prime minister’s office in Khartoum went unanswered.

All Comments

Zoran 6 DAYS AGO

Let the people of Sudan fulfill their potential! 

View original: https://www.ft.com/content/13bcb06a-4cf0-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020. All rights reserved.

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Further Reading

Excerpts from BBC Africa online news report - www.bbc.co.uk

Publication date: 22 December 2019

Title: Darfur conflict: Sudan launches investigation into crimes

Image copyright REUTERS

Image caption Ex-ruler Bashir already faces a range of other charges

“Sudan has launched an investigation into crimes committed in the Darfur region under former President Omar al-Bashir, the state prosecutor [Tagelsir al-Heber] says. A trial could take place outside the country, Tagelsir al-Heber said. Ten years ago the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. […] 

Mr Heber said the Darfur investigation was focusing on "cases against former regime leaders". He did not give names, but said no-one would be excluded from the investigation. All crimes committed during the Darfur conflict would be looked at, he said - including numerous incidents of murder and rape. If necessary, the trial could take place abroad, Mr Heber said, raising the prospect that Bashir could be transferred to the ICC in The Hague. […]

Bashir's feared former intelligence chief Salah Gosh is also being investigated, Mr Heber said. The head of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) quit in April two days after the Bashir was ousted and left the country. "There four cases against Salah Gosh and we started a procedure to bring him [back to Sudan] by Interpol," he said.

It is unclear whether Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo is under investigation. A former Janjaweed militia leader in Darfur, he turned against Bashir as protests grew and was named vice-president of Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) after Bashir was forced out.

View full report:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50887252

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Article from Sudan Watch archive dated 21 February 2006

Title: List of top wanted Janjaweed leaders - Who's who on Darfur (African Confidential)

View full report: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2006/02/list-of-top-wanted-janjaweed-leaders.html

Sudan: PM Hamdok meets French President Macron and Darfur war SLA rebel Abdelwahid Nur in France

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Here is news of a 30 Sep 2019 meeting between Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Mr Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Darfur war rebel group Sudanese Liberation Army. Mr Nur helped lead the SLA, one of two rebel groups (the other was JEM) that started the Darfur war in 2003 costing 300,000-400,000 Darfuri lives and unimaginable pain and suffering for millions of others. 

The meeting took place in France where, for the past 15 years Mr Nur has sheltered, enjoyed good food, beer and five star hotels. Nur, now aged 50, led and directed the Darfur war by satellite phone from the comfort and safety of an armchair in Paris, France where he still lives in self imposed exile. He fled to France soon after the Darfur war. He is too scared to return to Darfur and face the dwindling support of 'his people'.

In my view he is an arrogant self-serving dim-wit who spouts nonsense and has delusions of becoming president of Sudan. He once set up an office in Israel. He is infuriating. So is France's interest in Chad and the Sudans oil. See 2005 report 'South Sudan: French energy giant Total in oil talks with SPLM/A over White Nile' https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2005/03/south-sudan-french-energy-giant-total.html. 

Photo: Darfur rebel Abdelwahid Nur, leader of Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA-AW) 

Credit: Sudan Tribune.com report 31 Aug 2019 ‘SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks’

News report from MSN.com

By Agence France-Presse (AFP) - www.afp.com

Published: Tuesday 01 October 2019

Title: Sudan PM meets Darfur rebel chief in 'essential' step to peace: Macron

Sudan's prime minister has met a senior Darfur rebel leader living in France, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, hailing an "essential step" for peace in the troubled east African nation.

Photo: © Bertrand GUAY Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace

"We facilitated talks that Prime Minister (Abdalla) Hamdok had yesterday with Abdulwahid Nur, who is in our country," Macron said at a press conference with Hamdok after discussions in Paris.

"I think the step taken yesterday is an essential step," he added. "The Sudanese deserve to finally live in peace and security."

Nur, who is exiled in France, leads the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA/AW), which does not recognise Hamdok's government, which is tasked with leading the country's transition to civilian rule.

Hamdok said that his meeting with Nur, which he had expected to last 30 minutes, went on for nearly three hours and involved "very profound exchanges".

"We discussed the roots of the Sudanese crisis and possibilities for a solution and... we are going to lay the first stones for this edifice of peace," he said.

Sudan's western region of Darfur fell into widespread conflict in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government of Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April this year.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the years-long conflict in Darfur and more than two million displaced, according to the United Nations.

"I accepted to meet the new prime minister not as a prime minister, but as a political figure" in the new political landscape, Nur told AFP on Monday.

"There is no peace, there is no accountability, there is no free press -- the killing in Darfur, in the Nuba mountains, in the Blue Nile is continuing," he said.

"All of us we want to sit together in a partnership country, in a partnership of equal citizenship rights, to identify all together what are the problems of Sudan and what is the solution," he said.

However Nur, 50, stressed that "we are not recognising the military council and we are not recognising the new government".

Hamdok's visit to France was his first to Europe as prime minister, and comes after France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Khartoum earlier this month.

Macron reiterated Monday that France was ready to help rebuild Sudan's economy, announcing a 15 million euro ($16.3 million) aid package and plans for a donors' conference in the coming weeks.

View original: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sudan-pm-meets-darfur-rebel-chief-in-essential-step-to-peace-macron/ar-AAI4z6Y

Sudan: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, calls for referendum before peace talks

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, is an idiotic coward. Shortly after helping to start the Darfur war in 2003 he fled to France where he still lives comfortably in self-imposed exile. While hiding in France, he sat in a Paris hotel armchair directing the Darfur war by satellite phone. The war killed 300,000-400,000 Darfuris. His nonsensical talks are breathtaking.

News report by Sudan Tribune.com

Published Saturday 31 August 2019

SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks

August 30, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) has called for an internationally monitored referenda on the transitional constitution and the representation of its cosignatories before to engage in peace talks.

Four months after the ouster of former President Omer al-Bashir last April, the SLM-AW for the first time and in a statement written in English made public its response to the calls from various Sudanese political forces to lay down arms and to join a national process for peace during the first six months of the transitional period.

The holdout group in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune voiced its rejection of the Political Agreement and the Constitutional Declaration signed by the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), describing it "as patently illegitimate and exclusionary".

"The accord reached between the TMC and FFC is simply another new variant of a civilian rubber stamp for the soldiers, paramilitaries, secret policemen," said the statement to explain the group’s rebuke for the process.

Since last April, there were several contacts by various political FFC groups with the SLM leader in a bide to persuade the group to negotiate a lasting peace agreement after the regime change.

During the era of the Islamist regime, the SLM had only participated in the Abuja process in 2006. Since the group asks to repair the consequences of the conflict and disband the government militia accused of war crimes before to negotiate a deal addressing the root causes of the conflict.

In his nine-page statement, emailed to Sudan Tribune, al-Nur set what he called "terms and condition for conflict resolution dialogue".

"We call for preparations for a national plebiscite to be undertaken immediately for a free and transparent vote under international observation, to take place sixty days from now," he further said.

He added that Sudanese should answer by yes or no to three questions.

The first question: asks the Sudanese if they approve "the continuation of the interim government under the terms the Constitutional Declaration; the second: complete withdrawal of the militaries from the transitional authority institutions; the third: do they approve a full and immediate return to civilian rule.

The armed group went further to propose to hold elections within 90 days after the referendum on the national level. Once the national elections are conducted, regional elections for state governors will take place 60 days after.

In a briefing to the Security Council on 26 August, Jean Pierre Lacroix said the intermittent clashes continue in Jebel Marra between the Sudanese army backed by the Rapid Support Forces and the SLM fighters.

In his position paper, al-Nur added 13 other conditions before the referenda including the full withdrawal of the army and government militias from Darfur region, al-Bashir’s transfer to the International Criminal court, and release of prisoners of war and conscience.

In addition, the paper reintroduced the SLM-Aw demands for disbanding of militias, land restoration to its owners and compensation for the war-affected civilians.

President Salva Kiir has called on al-Nur to come to Juba and join consultations meetings his government is holding with the other armed groups in preparations for peace talks with the government headed by Abdallah Hamdok.

The South Sudanese initiative aims at bringing the divided armed groups to establish a one negotiating paper before to meet the Sudanese government.

Juba also consults with Sudan’s neighbouring countries particularly Egypt and Chad and seeks to involve them in this demarche.

Egypt expressed willingness to host Sudan’s peace process. (ST)

View original:  http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68030

Sudan: Divided rebel groups in W. Sudan blamed for hampering regional & international efforts in Darfur

News report from and by Sudan Tribune.com

Dated Saturday 31 August 2019

Darfur armed groups agree to unify peace negotiating position

August 31, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - Four armed groups in Sudan’s Darfur region have agreed to unify their negotiating position before to engage in talks with the transitional government in the near future.

The joint statement was signed by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM), Sudan Liberation Movement - Transitional Council (SLM-TC), and the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance (SLFA) from the South Sudanese capital on Saturday.

The four groups are participating in consultation meetings hosted by the South Sudanese government within its efforts to facilitate a comprehensive peace process to settle the armed conflicts in Darfur, the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, three regions on the common border between the two Sudans.

The joint statement reaffirmed that peace remains their first strategic choice, stressing that it should address the root causes of the Sudanese problem and tackle the effects of war and marginalization.

Further, JEM, SLM-MM, SLM-TC and SLFA said they will participate in the "peace negotiations with one negotiating position and a joint negotiating delegation".

In the same trend, they pledged to consult and unify their political positions towards all national issues.

More, they renewed their commitment to the declaration of a cessation of hostilities to create a conducive environment for peace.

The divided armed groups in the western Sudan region have been blamed for hampering regional and international efforts in Darfur.

In 2017, the United States decided the lift of economic sanctions on Sudan and refused calls to wait until a peace deal is struck in Darfur blaming the armed groups of obstructing peace.

"We reject all methods of exclusion practised by the Center on the pretext of efficiency and refusal of quotas".

The JEM, SLM-MM and SLM-TC are part of the Forces for Freedom and Change but the large coalition refused their demand to allocate them a quota in the transitional cabinet.

In reaction, the forces of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front refused to endorse the Political Agreement and the Constitutional Declaration. 

SOURCE:  http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68031

Sudan: N. Darfur 10,000 families displaced this week - Poor humanitarian conditions, lack of water & food

Far too much ethnically-targeted violence continues to define large parts of #Darfur, with no sign military forces will be deployed to protect the victims—overwhelmingly non-Arab populations. These people cannot be allowed to rendered invisible by developments elsewhere in #Sudan pic.twitter.com/3NIS04GjOy

— Eric Reeves (@sudanreeves) February 20, 2020

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: UNHCR has spent well over a decade and billions of dollars in funding to help ease the humanitarian crises in Darfur and other regions of Sudan, South Sudan and Chad. Surely UNHCR and other aid agencies should be providing decent humanitarian assistance, safe drinking water and enough food and medical care for people in desperate need.

In China last month, within one week the Chinese built, from scratch, a fully equipped emergency hospital to accommodate at least 1,000 patients suffering from the contagious Coronavirus. 

Billions of dollars worth of aid have been donated to Sudan and South Sudan over the past 15 years or so. What are UNHCR and other aid agencies failing to meet basic needs? Are they corrupt or what? Why are poor Sudanese people still suffering? Why isn't mainstream media investigating the work humanitarian aid agencies? Lazy bums. Note, I have added a tag entitled 'UNHCR corruption' and will keep an eye on news regarding aid agencies in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad.