Sudan Nashra: Military absent as Geneva talks begin | Floods wreak havoc across Sudan amid shortages of medicine and food

The war in Sudan extends into its 17th month with neither the military nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) positioning themselves to secure a decisive military victory. And a political solution to the crisis, which has impacted tens of millions of Sudanese, appears ever more elusive.

In Geneva, hopes for a peace agreement have waned after the Sudanese government refused to participate in the talks sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The government remains firm on its demand for the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration, signed in May 2023 by both the military and the RSF. With the military government absent, the Geneva talks have taken the shape of international negotiations to facilitate humanitarian aid access and cease hostilities, with only the RSF present at the table.

The Sudanese government's boycott of the Geneva talks was echoed by its allies among the armed movements, further diminishing hopes for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Meanwhile, Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair and military commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan embarked on an African tour on Sunday and Monday, visiting Rwanda and Angola. According to a source familiar with the visit’s agenda who spoke to Mada Masr, Burhan discussed Sudan's stance on the Geneva talks and sought assistance to lift Sudan's suspension from the African Union.

On the humanitarian front, and after nearly six months of closure to what the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan described as “a critical lifeline for the people of Sudan,” Sudanese authorities announced the reopening of the Adre border crossing with Chad. The government said that it will reopen for three months to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Darfur region. However, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry source who spoke to Mada Masr expressed concerns over the “suspicious” global emphasis on reopening the Adre crossing, noting that Chad, with support from the United Arab Emirates, is responsible for the weapons entering Sudan to the RSF under the guise of humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, floods and heavy rains continue to exacerbate the suffering of millions across the country. The destruction of homes, vital public facilities and farmlands, along with casualties from drowning and collapsing structures, are compounded by a surge in waterborne diseases and eye infections, further straining already overstretched medical facilities.

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Geneva talks begin without the Sudanese military 

The talks in Geneva, originally intended to bring together the Sudanese military and the RSF, began on Wednesday without the participation of the Sudanese military. The talks are scheduled to run until August 24. 

Despite early optimism spurred by what an informed Foreign Ministry source previously described to Mada Masr as the US’s “encouraging” response to the Sudanese government’s concerns, the latter ultimately opted out of the talks.

Mediated by Saudi Arabia and the US, the Geneva talks included observers from Egypt, the UAE, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the United Nations.

The RSF sent its delegation to Geneva a day before the talks began, with a source from the RSF commander’s office accusing the military of complicating the process by engaging in pre-talk consultations with the US in Jeddah.

The Sudanese government had initially requested preparatory meetings with the US to agree on the talks’ agenda and participants.

Following a phone call held between Blinken and Burhan on August 5, the US responded to the request, and a Sudanese delegation led by Minerals Minister Mohamed Bashir Abu Namo was dispatched to Jeddah to meet with its US counterpart, led by US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello, on August 9 and 10. However, these discussions reached an impasse.

Abu Namo later stated that during the deliberations in Jeddah, the Sudanese government proposed the format for its participation, namely being the primary official party in the negotiations and receiving the other party, the RSF. But an agreement was not reached, Abu Namo said.

The following day, the Sudanese government spokesperson released a statement on the outcomes of the preliminary consultations, stating that the US failed to pressure the RSF to implement the Jeddah Declaration and did not provide any justifications for establishing a new forum for the talks. The spokesperson added that the US based its evaluation of the situation in Sudan on inaccurate information. A  government source who spoke to Mada Masr also claimed that the US deals with institutions that do not exist in Sudan and that provide false data.

The spokesperson also said that the US insisted on the participation of the UAE as an observer, but the government insisted that Sudan would not accept new observers or facilitators and only welcomed initiatives that respect Sudan’s sovereignty and the dignity of its people.

A sovereignty council source told Mada Masr that the government has no stake in any outcomes of the Geneva talks. “We submitted a request to amend the agenda and the format on which the invitations extended to the parties were based,” the source said, citing objections to the participation of the UAE as an observer and the imposition of specific monitoring bodies on the government.

On the first day of the negotiations, Wednesday, the US State Department announced that Blinken held a phone call with Burhan, urging his government to reconsider their stance and participate in the Geneva talks. The sovereignty council later said that Burhan had assured Blinken of his willingness to engage with the Jeddah facilitators to discuss the way forward with the Jeddah declaration but firmly rejected any expansion of the list of facilitators.

Burhan was open to the Sudanese delegation meeting with mediation teams but opposed meeting with the RSF delegation, a sovereignty council source said, adding that Burhan engaged in further consultations with the sovereignty council following Blinken’s call.

In a meeting with Burhan on Thursday, Norwegian Ambassador to Sudan Endre Stiansen offered to mediate between Sudan and the US to reconcile their views regarding the Geneva talks. Burhan, however, said that there were non-negotiable red lines concerning the implementation of the Jeddah agreements and the selection of observers for the talks.

US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello commented on the first day of the Geneva talks, noting that the discussions, including meetings with technical experts, “have already yielded concrete ideas for compliance and execution of parties’ Jeddah Declaration commitments.”

As part of the government’s continued refusal to participate in the Geneva talks, Finance Minister and leader of the Justice and Equality Movement Gibril Ibrahim, whose forces are fighting alongside the military in several regions across Sudan, stated on Thursday that "it is in the Sudanese people’s nature to reject threats and intimidation, and their government is cut from the same cloth. It will not accept forced mediation and will not be part of negotiations aimed at legitimizing the criminal militia's occupation of civilian properties or securing a place for them in the future political and security landscape."

Darfur Governor and Sudan Liberation Movement leader Minni Arko Minnawi also echoed the government’s stance, stating that “the RSF delegation in Geneva must acknowledge that alleviating the suffering must begin in Sudan, not Geneva,” adding that the RSF is the root cause of all violations. Minnawi also stressed the condition of first implementing the Jeddah declaration, including ceasing attacks and violations against civilians, particularly on ethnic grounds, withdrawing from their properties, and full cooperation with humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to citizens. “If this is done, the war will end, the crisis’ root causes will be resolved, and peace will naturally follow,” Minnawi concluded.

A sovereignty council source told Mada Masr that the government had put the ball in the court of the international mediators and participants in Geneva, having outlined all that is necessary to ensure successful negotiations. However, the source said that the US has not engaged seriously.

They added that the US Secretary of State’s acknowledgment of Burhan as the chair of the Transitional Sovereignty Council is meaningless unless the US alters its policy. The government, the source said, remains steadfast in its commitment to the Jeddah agreements and is prepared for any possible replies from the US.

Marking the Sudanese Armed Forces’ 70th anniversary, Burhan issued a statement on Tuesday, stressing that military operations would not halt fighting until the RSF fully withdraws from all occupied cities and villages they have “violated.” Burhan asserted that the path to peace and ending the war is clear — the implementation of the agreements reached in Jeddah in May 2023. 

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Burhan’s African tour

On Sunday, Burhan arrived in Rwanda to attend the inauguration of Rwandan President Paul Kagame for his fourth term. A sovereignty council source told Mada Masr that Burhan received an official invitation from Kagame to attend the ceremony and discuss political matters, including the Geneva talks and Sudan's reinstatement to the African Union.

The visit follows earlier trips to Rwanda by both RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” in January, and the sovereignty council’s Deputy Chair Malik Agar the following month. The RSF’s visit was condemned by the Sudanese government at the time.

During his meeting with Kagame, Burhan raised the issue of Sudan’s suspended African Union membership, seeking assistance in securing its reinstatement, according to the sovereignty council source.

Sudan's membership in the continent's largest organization was suspended following the coup of October 25, 2021.

In Kigali, Burhan met with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty. A diplomatic source told Mada Masr that Abdel Atty affirmed Egypt's commitment to Sudan's territorial integrity and its state institutions. 

On Monday, Burhan departed Kigali for Angola, where he was received by Angolan President João Lourenço. The two leaders held official talks, during which Burhan, according to a source familiar with the visit who spoke to Mada Masr, discussed the need for Sudan's return to the African Union as well as bolstering Sudanese-Angolan relations, particularly in economic sectors.

A diplomatic source told Mada Masr that the two countries' bilateral relations have advanced significantly during the transitional period. Ibrahim Gaber, a member of the sovereignty council and head of its economic sector, visited Angola multiple times, the last of which was in April 2021.

Also on the diplomatic front, a source from the sovereignty council told Mada Masr that Sudan has recently initiated urgent talks with diplomatic missions. On Tuesday, Gaber met with the Russian acting ambassador, the Chinese acting ambassador, and the Qatari ambassador in the administrative capital, Port Sudan. The source noted that Gaber praised the international support from these countries.

On August 13, the Sudanese Armed Forces Deputy Commander-in-Chief Shams Eddin al-Kabashi met with Acting Prime Minister Osman Hussein Osman to discuss the diplomatic landscape and the need to set diplomatic institutions in motion to support the government's political stance in any foreign initiatives, a source in the Sudanese Foreign Ministry told Mada Masr.

They added that Sudan's recent diplomatic moves come amid expectations of sanctions following its refusal to engage in dialogue under the US’s conditions, adding that the recent deliberations in Jeddah did not yield any new developments to advance the Geneva talks. The government anticipates increased US pressure in the coming period, the source said, emphasizing that Sudan has not rejected any initiatives but insists on certain conditions.

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Heavy rains and floods wreak havoc across Sudan

Sudan’s Interior Ministry announced on Monday that 68 people have died and nearly 130 others have been injured due to the floods and heavy rains across various regions in the country.

The ministry’s statement detailed the extensive devastation caused by the floods, which destroyed 198,000 feddans of farmland, killed livestock, completely destroyed 4,000 homes, and partially damaged 8,000 more. Additionally, 40 public and private facilities were impacted.

However, local, medical and government sources across different states who spoke to Mada Masr describe an even grimmer picture of the devastation.

In Abu Hamad, a town in the River Nile State in northern Sudan, a medical source told Mada Masr that 34 people were killed and more than 500 others were injured in last week’s floods. The source also noted a surge in cases of mosquito-borne diseases, diarrhea, and respiratory infections, placing immense pressure on the area’s only hospital.

A local source told Mada Masr that over 1,000 homes were destroyed, with some still collapsing due to waterlogging. Seventy percent of the town remains without electricity, the source said, and most bakeries have shut down. Many families have sought refuge in public buildings and places of worship, with limited relief supplies available.

Floods have also impacted other areas in the state, particularly the villages surrounding Shendi. The main road connecting Shendi and Atbara has been cut off, and another key road connecting the state with the Red Sea and Northern states has also been blocked due to the heavy rains, leading to major traffic disruptions.

In the Northern State, where heavy rainfall is typically rare, this season’s unexpected floods have destroyed thousands of homes. Local residents in Delgo told Mada Masr that the floods have swept away homes and caused a surge in flies. In the village of Sarkamto, 200 families have fled to the mountains after their homes were submerged, according to a report from the Sudanese Red Crescent.

Similar scenes were reported in other parts of the state, including Dongola, Nawa, Amintago, and Tangasi, where there is an urgent need for food and medical supplies.

In western Sudan, a government source told Mada Masr that hundreds of families have been displaced from the Forbrenga area in West Darfur due to the rains. The RSF-aligned local authority declared the state capital, Geneina, a disaster zone after heavy rains and the flooding of Kaja valley destroyed nearly 7,000 homes.

The floods also destroyed homes and shelters in Zamzam camp near Darfur’s capital Fasher. Displaced people in the camp, through their local committees, have called on authorities and the rainy season emergency room to intervene urgently to rescue the affected families.

A government source in North Kordofan also told Mada Masr that floods had swept through the Kokiti area west of Bara, while the town of Aboud east of Managil in the Gezira State has been submerged.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s Health Ministry confirmed 300 cases of cholera and 18 deaths as of Thursday. The ministry also reported 2,689 cases of eye infections across nine states on Tuesday, with the majority occurring among displaced people.

The medical source warned that viral conjunctivitis has become a significant threat to thousands of families, particularly in the Northern State.

The spokesperson for the Sudan Doctors Syndicate’s preparatory committee, Sayed Mohamed Abdullah, told Mada Masr that the collapse of the telecommunications network in most parts of the country has made tracking the spread of epidemics accurately challenging during this year’s rainy season.

Abdullah noted that they had previously warned of such outbreaks, particularly in light of the rise in hunger and the scarcity and high cost of food.

Abdullah warned that if the eye infections reported in the Northern State are not properly treated, they could lead to corneal ulcers and, ultimately, blindness.

He said that the floods have exacerbated road closures, hindering the delivery of medicine and food to those in need, and pointed out that the ongoing conflict has diverted funds away from public health and disease control, neglecting sanitation and disease prevention during the rainy season.

Warring parties’ attacks on healthcare facilities are increasing as well, he highlighted, saying around 80 percent of these facilities have been rendered inoperable. Remaining hospitals are struggling with shortages of medical staff, medications, electricity, and clean water, worsening the situation during the rainy season and increasing the suffering of the people.