A Dire Crisis in Sudan: A Global Call to Action

Africa and Global Health

2025-05-22

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This meeting of the subcommittee on Africa was convened to examine the ongoing conflict in Sudan, focusing on its devastating humanitarian consequences, root causes, external involvement, and the responses from the United States and the international community alike. Speakers highlighted Sudan's severe crisis, which encompasses political, security, economic, and humanitarian dimensions. The discussion emphasized the urgent need for a global call to action due to the conflict's dire and worsening nature. [ 00:39:57 ]

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Themes

Humanitarian Crisis and Famine

Sudan is experiencing the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 25 million people, or half its population, facing acute hunger. Over 13 million Sudanese have been displaced, including 4 million who have fled to neighboring countries, exacerbating regional instability. Famine has been officially declared in parts of Sudan, and 8.1 million people are near famine conditions, largely due to the conflict being a "man-made failure." [ 00:30:38 ]

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[ 00:30:53 ]

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 Atrocities committed by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) include arbitrary killings, detentions, rapes, and the systematic destruction of harvests and looting of food stocks, using starvation as a weapon of war. [ 00:47:15 ]

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External Involvement and Fueling the Conflict

The conflict has devolved into a regional proxy war, with various external actors supporting opposing sides. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is widely reported to be the main international backer of the RSF, providing weapons and financial support, while countries like Egypt, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey have supported the SAF. This has turned Sudan into an "international arms bazaar" where sophisticated weaponry, including Chinese drones, is readily available. [ 01:42:26 ]

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 The gold trade, particularly lucrative and often illicit, has seen Sudan's official gold exports double since the war began, generating billions that fund the warring factions. [ 01:43:35 ]

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[ 01:43:51 ]

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 This external involvement prolongs the conflict and intensifies its devastating impact on civilians.

Lack of Accountability and Justice

A significant contributing factor to the ongoing violence is the historical lack of accountability for atrocities committed in Sudan. Despite Omar al-Bashir being charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, he has not been handed over to the court, setting a dangerous precedent. [ 01:31:06 ]

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 Both the SAF and RSF are guilty of grave human rights violations, including a "second genocide" in Darfur, but neither side has faced justice. [ 00:49:15 ]

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 There is currently "no serious commitment to justice and accountability" within Sudan, nor are there functional courts to address these crimes. [ 01:31:43 ]

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U.S. Policy and Engagement

The U.S. response has been criticized as "distracted, disjointed, and anemic," with concerns raised about the Trump administration's cuts to foreign assistance and failure to nominate key diplomatic positions. The cancellation of USAID support led to the closure of 80% of community kitchens, directly impacting life-saving aid. There is a strong call for the U.S. to appoint a Special Envoy for Sudan with direct access to the President to engage regional actors and apply diplomatic pressure. [ 00:37:10 ]

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 Critics argue that current U.S. policy, including arms sales to the UAE, inadvertently fuels the conflict and genocide.

Role of Sudanese Civil Society

In the absence of a functional government, Sudanese civilians have undertaken "heroic efforts" through emergency response rooms and mutual aid groups. These groups provide the "lion's share" of humanitarian assistance, including food, medicine, and safe spaces, often with limited resources and under immense repression from warring parties. Their life-saving work, such as operating community kitchens, is crucial but is at risk due to funding cuts. These local initiatives are seen as vital for rebuilding the social fabric of Sudan and preventing young people from being drawn into further violence. [ 01:12:38 ]

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Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was one of profound concern, urgency, and frustration regarding the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. [ 00:39:57 ]

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 Speakers expressed strong criticism of the "distracted, disjointed, and anemic" international response and specific U.S. policy decisions that they believe have worsened the situation. There was a clear, bipartisan call for increased and more effective diplomatic engagement and accountability to end the "man-made famine" and pervasive violence. [ 00:30:53 ]

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[ 00:39:01 ]

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Participants

Transcript

Ms.
Jacobs will be here momentarily.
The subcommittee on Africa will come to order.  The purpose of this hearing is to examine the ongoing conflict in Sudan, its devastating humanitarian consequences, including widespread displacement, violence, and external involvement, and to review the conflict's root causes, developments, and the responses from the United States and the international community.  I do recognize myself at this point for an opening statement.   Over the decades, as especially our distinguished panel knows, the people of Sudan have been subjected to unbearable pain and suffering and loss of life, even slavery.  Since the 1990s, I have been a vocal advocate for human rights, democracy, and stability in Sudan.  And soon after Republicans took control of the House, I chaired a hearing in 1996 on slavery in Sudan and Mauritania.   Today, there is a dire crisis again in Sudan, necessitating a global call to action.  I went to Khartoum, for example, in August of 2005 to meet with President Omar al-Bashir and other government officials, a number of people from the faith community, to press for an end to the genocide in Darfur.  The meeting was necessarily contentious.   Bashir denied any wrongdoing or complicity in the killings of Darfur genocide.  In 2009, however, and I point this out, Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in 2010, he was the first person ever charged for the crime of genocide by the ICC.   After meetings with Bashir and other government officials, I visited two refugee camps, and many of you have done that, many of my colleagues have done that.  Those two camps I went to in Darfur were Kama camp, and I stayed overnight at another called Mukjar in western Darfur, an experience that profoundly motivated me to do more to end the mass violence.
When our helicopter landed at the remote Mukjar camp,   Thousands, and I mean thousands, a line was formed of these wonderful people, women and children, dancing, clapping, singing beautiful African traditional songs.  The people of Darfur have a remarkable generosity and spirit, and it was awe-inspiring.  Just about everybody I spoke with, however, especially the women, told me personal stories of rape, senseless beatings, and massacres by the Janjawee and Sudanese militias.   I was deeply impressed with the dedication of the African Union peacekeepers operating under extremely difficult circumstances and urged international partners, including the United States, to better equip them.  I was shocked to learn they were getting a little over a dollar a day.  It was absurd.  I went to Condoleezza Rice upon my return and said, please, we've got to augment that.  We've got to increase it.   soldiers are putting their lives on the line, they should not be so grossly underpaid and under, not getting the kind of needs that they need in terms of munitions.  In November of 2005, I shared another hearing in a series on Sudan and it was absolutely clear that the situation in Darfur was a genocide.  At that time, over 400,000 killed and over a million displaced.   We did stress, all of us at that hearing, the need for a comprehensive plan that can best contribute to peace and hold those who have murdered, raped, enslaved, and plagued the people of Sudan accountable.  Meanwhile, Chairman Henry Hyde, Donald Payne, who is my ranking member from New Jersey, Frank Wolf, Tom Lantos, and a number of others, we pushed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act.   that declared that the slaughter in Darfur was genocide, imposed sanctions on the malign actors, talked about helping the peacekeepers, and it was signed into law in October 2006.  That law was built upon the Sudan Peace Act of 2001 and the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004.   I also, and I wasn't the only one, called on the Arab League to leverage its influence over the Sudanese government by encouraging the government to end its military offensive in Darfur and accept the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, which was there under the auspices of the AU.
They didn't do it.  It was like crickets.  We got almost no response at all other than thank you for raising it.  So here we are again.   In January 2017, again, on this committee, I objected to the Obama administration's decision to ease sanctions on Sudan.  I know it had to have been a tough call.  You know, we're always trying to look when the sanctions become counterproductive.  So, you know, there was an argument to be made, but I thought it was the wrong one, because Khartoum's government continued pervasive human rights violations.   and pointed out at the time the violent government actions against the Sudanese citizens in Darfur, Nubia, the Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile, alongside the persecution of Christians nationwide.  I was also disappointed in 2024 by the decision to allow Sudanese warlord Abdel Fattah al-Burhan into the country for a meeting with the UN Secretary General.   Burhan, as we all know, has massive amounts of blood on his hands and should never have been allowed into the U.S.  Yet the Biden administration delayed and denied robust sanctions against both Burhan and Hamidi, delaying such actions until the administration's final hour.  So we're glad when they did it, but we believe, I believe, many of us believe it should have been done sooner.   There will never be peace in Sudan until there's accountability for the atrocities committed by the twin butchers of Darfur.  Over 18,000 civilian deaths have been committed since 2023, with estimates as high as 150,000, and more than 10 million people displaced.  These are not just numerical estimates.   but it's the evidence of an appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes.  Each murdered or displaced civilian is a person with dreams and hopes, a family, a person whose life has been taken or irrevocably changed by these atrocities.

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