By Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) -The European Union and Britain pledged on Tuesday to increase aid for Sudan, at a conference in London marking the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions and devastated the country.
Britain said the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan’s government criticised the gathering because no representative from either side of the conflict was invited.
In a statement, the conference’s co-chairs called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the conflict and backed the transition to a civilian-led government elected by the Sudanese people.
“The international community stressed the necessity of preventing any partition of Sudan,” the co-chairs added. “The participants underscored that the non-interference by outside actors remains paramount.”
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.
It has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and devastated regions like Darfur. It has also drawn in several foreign powers.
The European Union and member states pledged over 522 million euros ($592 million) to address the crisis while Britain announced an extra 120 million pounds ($158 million) in aid.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the international community had to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians and let aid in, and he hoped the conference would establish principles for future engagement.
“We do need patient diplomacy,” he told delegates at the start of the conference. “We cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here, one year from now, having the same discussion.”
Britain has co-hosted the conference with the African Union, the European Union, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has complained to Lammy, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticising the presence of the United Arab Emirates and Kenya.
Sudan accuses the UAE of arming the RSF, a charge that U.N. experts and U.S. lawmakers have found credible, and it has taken a case against it to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The UAE has denied the allegation and asked for the case to be thrown out.
Sudan also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.
Lana Nusseibeh, assistant minister for Political Affairs at the UAE’s foreign ministry, said both sides were committing atrocities and aid was being deliberately blocked.
“As Sudan’s devastating war enters its third year, the United Arab Emirates issues an urgent call for peace,” she said in a statement.
DEVASTATION
Organisers hope the conference draws attention to a conflict where Britain says 30 million people desperately need aid and 12 million have been displaced.
A UN agency on Tuesday warned that rape is being used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan.
Luca Renda, the UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan, told reporters there was hope for “a more co-ordinated and coherent approach of the international community,” adding “Sudanese people are tired of this war.”
“The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time is unfolding before the eyes of the world,” German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.
On Tuesday, lawyers acting for Sudanese victims also submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout, additional reporting by Mohamed Ezz in Cairo, Madeline Chambers in Berlin, Bart Meijer in Brussels, Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva and Stephanie Van Den Berg in The Hague; Editing by Rod Nickel and Giles Elgood)
