The United States welcomes the resumption of humanitarian assistance deliveries through the Adré border crossing from Chad into Sudan and related diplomatic efforts to reopen emergency aid deliveries to famine-stricken portions of Darfur via the Dabbah Road from Port Sudan. The woeful lack of humanitarian aid access into Darfur over the past six months has exacerbated the historic levels of famine and acute hunger across Sudan, particularly within Zamzam camp.
This breakthrough in aid delivery builds on the momentum made during talks this month in Switzerland with the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group, which includes the United States, Switzerland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union, and the UN. The ALPS Group carried out intense in-person, proximity, and virtual talks with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces to increase access to lifesaving humanitarian assistance for millions of Sudanese. Through this effort, the United States and its partners secured the first guarantees from the warring parties for safe, unhindered access through the Adré crossing and the Dabbah Road, which could allow aid deliveries to nearly one million people already facing starvation. We remain in active negotiations to ensure humanitarian access from Port Sudan to the south of Sudan, including al-Jazira State and Sennar State.
Collectively, these three routes would significantly increase humanitarian access to parts of Sudan that have been difficult to reach with aid. The Sudanese people have urgent needs for food, medicine, and treatment. More than 25 million people face acute hunger, and over 10 million have been displaced from their homes. Famine is ongoing in parts of Darfur. It is critical the international community use every tool at its disposal to increase the flow of lifesaving relief into and within Sudan.
The United States also welcomes commitments by the RSF at the Switzerland talks this month to refrain from attacks on humanitarian aid deliveries and to streamline procedures for expediting emergency access to food and medicine. We also welcome the RSF’s commitment to a code of conduct for its fighters that includes a command directive to refrain from violence against women, exploitation at checkpoints, and destruction of crops, and to comply with Jeddah Declaration commitments and international humanitarian law. These new commitments must be reflected in the actions of RSF troops on the ground, who have committed ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity since the outbreak of war against Sudanese civilians.
There is no military solution to the crisis in Sudan. The United States remains committed to working with our international partners to engage both parties on the need for direct talks and an end to the violence.
