Sudan slams Berlin donor conference as ‘unacceptable’ as devastating war enters fourth year

The ⁠Sudanese ​government said ​on Wednesday that Germany’s plan to host ​a ‌conference ⁠on Sudan on April ‌15 was a “surprising ⁠and unacceptable” interference in its internal ​affairs, made ‌without consulting Khartoum, and warned that ‌engaging with paramilitary ​groups would undermine state sovereignty.

Germany is hosting ​the Berlin ​conference as part ​of efforts to revive faltering peace talks and mobilise aid for one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Read moreSudan drone strikes kill nearly 700 in three months as civil war reaches grim milestone

The vast majority of Sudanese now live in poverty, with 11 million of them having been uprooted from their homes and twice as many facing hunger.

“People are exhausted,” said Amgad Ahmed, 42, who has lived in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, throughout the conflict.

“Three years of war have worn people down. We have lost work, savings and any sense of stability,” he said.

The meeting in Berlin brings together governments, aid agencies and civil society groups, but excludes both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF – the two sides fighting the conflict.

It follows similar conferences hosted by London and Paris over the past two years that failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough.

The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, sparking what German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called “the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, which is not very often in the public eye”.

Nearly 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes since January, as attacks have escalated on both sides, particularly in the southern Kordofan region and Blue Nile State, according to the United Nations.

A semblance of normality, however, has taken root in the capital Khartoum since the army re-established control there last year.

In parts of the city, reconstruction has begun. Markets have reopened, traffic has returned to streets that were once largely empty, and national secondary school exams were held this week after nearly two years of widespread school closures.

According to the UN, around 1.7 million people have returned to the capital.

But danger still lurks among the soot-stained buildings, with authorities slowly working to clear tens of thousands of unexploded bombs left behind by the fighting.

‘Heartbreaking’

Al-Basheer Babker al-Basheer, 41, who visited Khartoum twice this year after three years away, said the city would need years to recover.

“I was happy to come back,” he said. “But when I went into the city centre, it was heartbreaking.”

“The road to the university where I studied is no longer the same. The walls are black,” he said. “They are not the same places we used to go to.”

Diplomatic efforts towards peace led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – referred to collectively as the Quad – have so far failed.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey back the Sudanese army, while the UAE is accused of arming the RSF. All sides deny direct involvement.

Quad-led talks stalled after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused the group in November of bias over Abu Dhabi’s membership.

German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said the Berlin conference would discuss how to “exert influence on the key actors”.

“There are many external actors involved in this war,” said Luca Renda, the UN Development Programme’s representative in Sudan.

“And as long as this continues, unfortunately, the chances of peace are very slim.”

Beyond widespread infrastructure destruction, the war has pushed Sudan deeper into hunger and poverty, with humanitarian funding at just 16 percent of what is needed, Renda said.

Famine was declared last year in North Darfur capital El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, with 20 additional areas at risk, the UN said.

African Union Commission Chairman Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, in Berlin for the meeting, voiced hope for a cessation of hostilities but acknowledged “we are not there yet”.

“When the whole world is focusing on Iran and Ukraine and other crises, I think it is very much appreciated that Germany puts this agenda on the table so that we do not lose sight about the suffering of the people of the Sudan.”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)