SITUATION REPORT – HORN OF AFRICA No. 457, 26 June 2023

Situation in Sudan (per 26 June)

• Gunfire and airstrikes continued in the capital of Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman over the weekend. 
• Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have gained control over the Central Reserve Police base in southern Khartoum, posting videos from inside the facility. It claims to have seized 160 pick-up trucks, 27 tanks and 75 armoured personnel carriers, as well as large amounts of ammunition, they say. 
• Entire districts in Khartoum are without running water and electricity has stopped working since Thursday, say remaining residents in the city.
• The few health facilities still running suffer from lack of fuel for generators and lack of medical supplies.
• Aid is not reaching the capital, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) want to prevent aid from falling into the hands of the RSF, states the International Crisis Group. 
• Interviews with people fleeing the city of el Geneina revealed “horrific accounts” of killings of civilians by RSF-supported militia, states the UN human rights office (OHCHR). 
• Dead bodies are scattered along the road and witnesses report dozens of bodies in a location referred to as Shukri, 10 km off the border with Chad.
• Summary executions of civilians lying on the ground or by shooting into the crowds were reported by the majority of witnesses interviewed. 
• The killings are accompanied by hate speech against the Masalit. 
• The refugees who survive have had their phones and property looted from them. Armed men referred to them as “slaves” and “Nuba”. Witnesses state that the militia are targeting anyone who is black.
• There is an increase in heavy clashes between SAF and RSF in Nyala in South Darfur. Residents report artillery fire and tanks, and many are taking lulls in the fighting as an opportunity to flee the city. 
• Water supplies in places in el Fasher and Nyala have also been cut amidst lack of fuel for generators. 

Refugee Situation (per 26 June)

• Hundreds of Eritrean refugees that were rounded up and arrested in the Balderas area of Addis Ababa five weeks ago, including minors, were forcibly deported to Assab, Eritrea.
• Those who were deported did not want to pay or could not afford to pay the ransom payment the police demanded from them. Those who paid were reportedly released. 
• The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is monitoring the forced return of Eritreans alleged to be illegally in Ethiopia. EHRC notes that under international law, no-one should be returned to a country where they face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 
• The known number of Eritreans deported is 432 so far, sources state.
• The Refugees and Returnees Service of Ethiopia states that “NONE of the individuals who have been returned are refugees or asylum seekers.”
• Ethiopia withdrew the ‘prima facie’ refugee status recognition for Eritreans in March 2020, despite lack of evidence for improvement of the situation in Eritrea. 
• Eritrean refugees arriving from Sudan to Metema, Ethiopia, are now being asked to pay USD 5000 per adult to be smuggled to Addis Ababa, new reports state. Minors are paying USD 2000. 
• Smugglers that used to operate in Sudan have now moved their business to Metema. 

Situation in Tigray (per 26 June)

• Tigray authorities condemned the visit of US diplomats to Amhara-occupied parts of Tigray. 
• Abune Tesfaselassie Medhin from the Adigrat Eparchy in Tigray calls upon USAID and the World Food Programme to resume food aid to Tigray. While he denounces food aid diversion, he states that keeping food from the war-impacted communities is a “death sentence.”
• The interim administration of Tigray stated it has entered into talks with the Ethiopian government on the legal status of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). TPLF was denied restoration to a legal political party by the Ethiopian National Election Board (NEBE). The NEBE chairperson has resigned.
• High levels of trauma and education loss amongst primary school children impacted by the war in Tigray, a study by the Luminos Fund and the Tigray Education Bureau shows.

Regional Situation (per 26 June)

• South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry denied rumours that it closed its borders with Sudan. 
• The leader of the Puntland region in Somalia, Said Abdullahi Deni, appointed new officials and removed some others. Among the removed officials is the opposition force leader General Jim’ale Jama Takar.
• Other removed persons are suspected of having ties with opposition and/or those that oppose Deni’s plans for elections and constitutional amendment.
• Five civilians were killed in a terrorist attack on two villages in south-east Kenya, suspectedly perpetrated by al-Shabaab. 

International Situation ( 26 June)

• “There are already signs of genocide in Sudan,” states Kenyan President William Ruto. 
• Ruto says peace negotiations will not succeed “until we get General al-Burhan, General Hemedti, political leaders and civil society – women’s groups and youth groups – to the table.”
• The UN Security Council (UNSC) held closed consultations on Sudan on Friday. In a brief press statement following the meeting, the Council called for a halt in the fighting and protection of civilians, as well as adherence to international law.
• The UNSC also called for more support to humanitarian aid in Sudan and in surrounding countries and support to aid workers. 
• The Djibouti Minister of Defense and the Army Chief of Staff met with Brigadier General Igor Matveev, newly appointed as Head of the Russian Defense Ministry post in Addis Ababa. 
• The parties discussed among others the training of the Djibouti army by Russia.

Links of interest

Airstrikes, Artillery, Killings in Sudan as Humanitarian Aid Stalls
Sudan’s RSF says it seized police base as fighting rages
Sudan: OHCHR calls for ‘urgent action’ to end militia attacks on people fleeing El Geneina
Twitter: Refugees and Returnees Service
ምርጫ ቦርድ የሕወሓትን ሕጋዊ ሰውነት እንደገና እንዲመልስ ንግግር መጀመሩ ተሰማ
Twitter: Getachew Reda
Twitter: Tigray Education Bureau
South Sudan denies closing border with Sudan
UN says Somalia faces a `dire hunger emergency’ but aid has been cut over lack of funding
Somalia: Puntland’s outgoing leader adding fuel to the fire with new appointments
Five civilians killed, some ‘beheaded’, in southeast Kenya
Kenyan President William Ruto: ‘There are already signs of genocide in Sudan’
Sudan: Consultations
Radio Television Djibouti