SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Why Darfur Again Faces the Risk of Ethnic Slaughter

19/6/2024: New York Times - Why Darfur Again Faces the Risk of Ethnic Slaughter

New York Times warn that if al-Fashir the falls, what had largely been a military clash could descend into ethnic slaughter like the violence Darfur endured in the early 2000s, when the Janjaweed, who are Arab, set upon ethnic Africans,” with the UN estimating that 300,000 were killed in the genocide.

NYT note that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seizing of the main highway “has largely cut off food” to a Darfur region “already grappling with famine,” with a child dying of malnutrition every two hours at a nearby displacement camp.

Medical care is also in short supply in Al-Fashir with hospitals forced to close. The road out is “filled with danger,” with temperatures rising to over 49 celsius, women reporting being sexually assaulted and people finding that food and medicine are in short supply when reaching their destinations.