SITUATION REPORT – HORN OF AFRICA No. 456, 22 June 2023

Situation in Sudan (per 22 June)

• Clashes in Khartoum erupted on Tuesday night, while the ceasefire was still in place until Wednesday morning. 
• In Omdurman severe artillery fire broke out just minutes after the ceasefire ended. 
• The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the headquarters of the Directorate of the General Intelligence Service in Khartoum on Tuesday, resulting in a large fire. Violent clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) were witnessed earlier in the day around the industrial area.
• Witnesses in Khartoum state that the large majority of the city is controlled by the RSF. Houses and organisations continue to be looted; civilians brave enough to go outside to look for food are looted as well.
• The violence in West-Darfur is still escalating, as civilians fleeing el Geneina are being shot at as they cross into Chad. The fighting in el Geneina continued throughout the ceasefire, which ended on Wednesday. A senior aid worker from the Sudan Humanitarian Aid Commission was among those killed.
• The governor of Darfur called for an international probe into the Darfur violence.
• Attacks and looting of foreign embassies in Khartoum are still ongoing. The embassies of Algeria, Zimbabwe and Mauritania were targeted this week. 
• The World Health Organization warned that the attacks on healthcare facilities, equipment and workers are putting women and girls at risk, and especially pregnant women are among the hardest hit. Since the start of the war there have been 46 verified attacks on health workers and facilities. 
• Port Sudan is currently the only point of entry for humanitarian aid, which is over 2,000 km away from places hardest hit by the conflict.  Humanitarian aid is solely entering Sudan through a zone controlled by the SAF.
• The towns of El Obeid and El Rahad in North Kordofan have been experiencing a relative calm thanks to negotiations by civilian leaders with the RSF. An agreement was reached to keep residents safe and secure the roads connecting with El Obeid. 
• Securing the roads has allowed the movement of goods and people to resume and actions are being undertaken to apprehend criminal gangs that have been involved in armed robberies.
• A leader of the Badiriya tribe also reached an agreement with the RSF to allow the functioning of power stations, which has resulted in the restoration of electricity in El Obeid. Maintenance work on the water station and lines is also on its way. 
• In the capital of South Kordofan there have been clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and the SAF. 

Refugee Situation (per 22 June)

• Thousands of refugees are stuck at the border with Egypt, which has closed its border and expanded visa restrictions. Egypt has further refused to accept emergency travel documents for those lacking passports and has openly rejected having refugee camps on its territory. 
• The only two official routes into Egypt have very few facilities for those waiting to get in, including lack of toilets, basic medicine, water, food and shade.
• While international aid agencies have not been able to assist at the border, local Egyptian and Sudanese-led groups have been offering assistance in Egyptian villages close to the border.

Situation in Ethiopia (per 22 June)

• Christian Leaders in Ethiopia stated concern about the suspension of food aid, denouncing it as immoral and unethical. They urge the government to increase the speed of negotiations, and to put appropriate measures in place to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to resume.
• An attack by the Fano militia in a village in Western Oromia on 16 June has killed 8 civilians and injured 13. 15 people are missing. 
• Fano fighters have also taken 3,000 cattle from farmers in three villages in the Kiremu district.
• The District Communication Office of Kiremu stated that the militia men are trying to change the demography of the region by displacing Oromo farmers so that Amhara natives can settle on their land.

Situation in Eritrea (per 22 June)

• The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, presented his latest report on Eritrea in the UN Human Rights Council on 20 June. The human rights situation has continued to deteriorate. Eritrea rejected the report by the Special Rapporteur.
• During the Interactive Dialogue, the US condemned Eritrea’s treatment of citizens, torture, arbitrary detention, and Eritrea’s indefinite national service system and its unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers.  
• The US expressed “alarm” by recent reports of forcible repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan by Eritrea.  
• The US urges Eritrea to withdraw troops from Tigray.
• The US expressed concern over the atrocity crimes committed by Eritrean Defense Forces in Tigray including war crimes and crimes against humanity.  
• At the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UNHCR and the UK urged Eritrea to demonstrate its commitment to upholding human rights. 

Regional Situation (per 22 June)