Situation in Sudan (per 19 June)
- A new 72-hour ceasefire was agreed between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It went into effect on Sunday 18 June at 06:00 a.m. local time.
- A statement by the facilitators of the US and Saudi Arabia warned that “should the parties fail to observe the 72-hour ceasefire, facilitators will be compelled to consider adjourning the Jeddah talks.”
- Hours before the ceasefire was agreed, an airstrike killed 17 people in Khartoum, including five children.
- The airstrike destroyed at least 25 houses in the Yarmouk district.
- The Wagner mercenary group is continuing to supply arms to the RSF through a Wagner naval base in Syria to Wagner-controlled bases in Libya, a CNN report states. From there, weapons are transported to Bangui, Central African Republic, and from there overland via Birao to Um Dafok in Sudan.
- Incidents of rape perpetrated by RSF have been corroborated and verified, including one incident captured on video involving a girl believed to be 15 years old.
- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns it is facing a catastrophic situation in Adré, Chad, where 622 injured refugees from West Darfur have arrived within three days, most with gunshot wounds.
- Particularly in Khartoum and Darfur, essential services are at a breaking point, warns the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Refugee Situation (per 19 June)
- Eritrean refugees fleeing Sudan are blocked around the Ethiopian border town of Metema and asked to pay USD 2000 to reach Addis Ababa.
- Eritrean refugees in Tigray are kidnapped for ransom and forced to pay USD 2000, observers state.
- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) appointed Mamadou Dian Balde as Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan situation.
- The UNHCR calls on countries to keep their borders open to people fleeing Sudan, including undocumented persons.
- Delays in aid cause malnutrition and unsanitary conditions, causing the spread of diseases which are killing children in South Sudan refugee camps.
- A Sudanese mother is taking legal action against the French government for destroying the passports of her daughters, who were awaiting a decision for family reunification. The request for family reunification had been pending for a year.
- The girls tried to flee to Egypt, but were turned back due to their lack of documentation. The mother is asking the court to order the French Ministry of Interior to accept the family reunification claim and issue a laisser-passer for the girls.
Situation in Tigray (per 19 June)
- IDPs at the Abiy Addi IDP site in Tigray are dying every day due to lack of food. There is no food aid for the IDPs, an observer states.
- This comes amidst continued stalling in the full implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities agreement and halting of food aid by the World Food Programme and USAID.
- Tigray Interim Administration’s Investment Commission sent a letter to Ethiopia’s Investment Commission (EIC) requesting debt cancellation and measures such as compensation for damaged investments in order to stimulate the economy of Tigray.
Regional Situation (per 19 June)
- At least 41 people, including 38 students, were killed and six abducted in an attack on a secondary school in western Uganda on Saturday by militants of an extremist group. Authorities have implicated the Allied Democratic Forces.
- An Eritrean man was arrested at the Entebbe airport in Uganda for the possession of 80 passports of Eritreans.
- Several officers were injured in a suspected al-Shabaab attack with an Improvised Explosive Device in Lamu, Kenya. This comes amidst a spike of al-Shabaab attacks.
- Somali government forces were deployed in the Puntland capital of Garowe yesterday, possibly in connection to a parliamentary debate on constitutional changes including a possible term extension for outgoing regional President Said Abdullahi Deni.
- Opposition forces have been seen in the streets of Garowe and heavy weapons were heard, witnesses state.
- Ethiopian Airlines has around USD 2.5 million of revenue from ticket sales stuck in Eritrea, as the Eritrean government lacks the foreign currency to pay the airline, states the CEO Mesfin Tassew.
- The airline resumed daily flights to Eritrea after the 2018 peace agreement.
International Situation (per 19 June)
- Two motions on conflict-related sexual violence have been tabled in the UK Parliament in relation to Tigray and other places in occasion of the UN Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
- One motion, signed by 14 Members, calls for the UK government to press for investigations into “conflict-related sexual violence as war crimes, crimes against humanity or constitutive acts of genocide” and to prosecute the perpetrators.
- The other motion, signed by 11 Members, calls for the UK government to support the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), which is threatened to be cut short, and ensure that its findings and recommendations are followed through.
- International donors convened in Geneva today for a high-level pledging event to support the humanitarian response in Sudan.
Links of interest
Twitter: US Embassy in Khartoum
Airstrike in Sudan’s capital kills 17 people, including five children, hours before US and Saudi Arabia broker ceasefire
Video exposes rape allegedly carried out by Wagner-backed militia in Sudan
Twitter: MSF
Sudan: Essential services at breaking point after two months of fighting
Sudan Situation – UNHCR External Update #14, 8 – 15 June 2023
Children die daily at a South Sudan border camp while they wait for international aid
France: une Soudanaise saisit la justice après la destruction des passeports de ses filles à Khartoum
Tigray pleads for debt relief, incentives to resurrect war-torn economy
Eritrean found with 80 passports at Entebbe Airport
Several GSU officers injured in suspected al-Shabaab attack in Lamu
At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border
Somalia: Tension mounts in Puntland capital after rival force deploys
Ethiopian Airlines’ cash stuck in currency deadlock with Eritrea, Nigeria
Declaration on UN Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
Support for the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia
High-level Pledging Event to Support the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region
Disclaimer: All information in this Situation Report is presented as a fluid update report, as to the best knowledge and understanding of the authors at the moment of publication. EEPA does not claim that the information is correct but verifies to the best of ability within the circumstances. Publication is weighed on the basis of interest to understand potential impacts of events (or perceptions of these) on the situation. Check all information against updates and other media. EEPA does not take responsibility for the use of the information or impact thereof. All information reported originates from third parties and the content of all reported and linked information remains the sole responsibility of these third parties. Report to info@eepa.be any additional information and corrections.
