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'Deliberate' Famine Spreads in Sudan as Millions Starve - UN

A UN report has concluded that more than a year of war in Sudan has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, including a displaced persons camp that houses more than a half-million people. Fighting between rival generals leading the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces for the past 15 months has severely hindered humanitarian access, exacerbating the hunger crisis.

Famine in Sudan is a "deliberately" and "wholly man-made" disaster, writes Amgad Fareid Eltayeb, executive director of the Khartoum-based Fikra for Studies and Development. "Sudan is experiencing a deliberate process of starvation" by the Rapid Support Forces, which he says "intentionally deprive civilians of access to essential sustenance."

Veteran human right activist John Predergast - co-founder with George Clooney of The Sentry - says in an AllAfrica guest column that large-scale international action is urgently needed. "Outrage and sustained attention for Sudan's humanitarian catastrophe could save millions of lives."

The U.N. says intensified fighting in El Fasher has displaced about 320,000 people since mid-April, with about 150,000 to 200,000 of them believed to have moved to Zamzam camp since mid-May. UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) have been warning of the escalating risk to the people of Sudan, particularly children, if urgent aid cannot be delivered to communities trapped in conflict hotspots like Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan, and Al Jazirah. The situation remains critical across the whole country, with an estimated 730,000 children projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

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Sudan has become the largest displacement crisis in the world.

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