The United Nations warned last week that the armed clashes between Sudan’s army and its paramilitary Rapid Response Forces have displaced more than four million people—including over 884,000 who have fled the country.

Besides the deadly clashes, the African nation is dealing with a historic hunger crisis—with more than 20.3 million people, or 42 percent of the population—facing acute hunger. About 6.3 million in the country are close to famine. To make matters worse, the country’s health care system is near collapse after hospitals have been struck during the fighting.

Bodies are reportedly stacking up in Khartoum, the capital city. A journalist for the Associated Press counted at least 26 bodies, mostly civilians and RSF fighters, lying on the streets in recent weeks. The country is experiencing its rainy season and there are concerns that diseases will spread in these communities because rotting corpses can contaminate water systems.

Al Jazeera noted that Khartoum, and its twin city Omdurman, have been the main theatre of fighting between two factions.

The conflict broke out four months ago after the rivalry between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the military, and Mohammedi “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary, spun out of control.

The country’s army has launched air attacks to try and take out supply lines used by the paramilitary, which now controls much of the capital.

“The situation in Omdurman is terrifying,” Nader Abdullah, a 52-year-old resident, told Al Jazeera. “Gunfire, the sound of artillery, and air strikes … there’s bombardment in every direction.”

TRENDPOST: Al Jazeera noted that the nearly 900,000 who fled Sudan are entering neighboring countries that are also struggling economically and do not have a grip on their own security situations.

Arab militias who are aligned with the paramilitary forces have been targeting non-Arabs fleeing the Sudanese region of Darfur.

“As many families have been on the move for weeks—with very little food or medicine—rising malnutrition rates, disease outbreaks, and related deaths continue to be observed,” the UN said.

Where’s the outcry? 

Where are all the social media users to post a Sudanese flag in their profile pictures to show solidarity with their struggle, like we see for Ukraine. Indeed, when a hospital is hit in Ukraine—usually by an anti-missile rocket fired by Ukrainian forces—news outlets race to further portray Russians subhuman.

Like Tigray, Palestine, Yemen, etc., the world simply doesn’t give a deuce whether or not women and children are being raped, tortured, or starving. The Ukraine War has shown—all those willing to pay attention—that Western foreign policy has never been about protecting human life—especially the vulnerable; it has been to control its influence in these regions to protect its hegemony.  

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a cargo plane from the UAE in June was supposed to be carrying humanitarian aid to Sudan, but was, instead, loaded with “dozens of green plastic crates in the plane’s cargo hold filled with ammunition, assault rifles, and other small arms.”

The weapons were intended to support Dagalo’s forces. Since the delivery, nearly 4,000 people have been killed in clashes.

The UAE, a close U.S. ally, seemed to learn from Washington how to use poor countries for its own gain.

The WSJ reported that Abu Dhabi is “likely betting on Dagalo to help protect Emirati interests in Sudan, with its strategic location on the Red Sea, access to the Nile River, and vast gold reserves. The U.A.E.’s interests include swaths of Sudanese farmland and a stake in a planned $6 billion port on the Red Sea.”

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how migration will continue to be a major problem for richer European countries as much of the world faces a financial downturn. (See “IMMIGRATION AT EU BORDER SOARING—NOT INCLUDING UKRAINIANS,” 26 Apr 2022.) We identified the problem as a TOP TREND of 2023 because it will likely give rise to anti-immigration movements in Europe because countries cannot sustain these numbers. 

We’ve already seen significant gains across Europe for political parties considered to be anti-immigrant. Besides Meloni, Marine Le Pen of France saw her highest level of support when she was defeated by Emmanuel Macron in April. A few months later, Sweden saw the rise of the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party that secured 20.5 percent of the vote.

Frontex placed blame on climate change, food insecurity, and inequality in the global south.

“All the major causes of the food crisis are still with us—conflict, Covid, climate change, high fuel prices,” Cary Fowler, the U.S. special envoy for global food security, told CNN. “I do think we have to prepare for 2023 being a rough year.”

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization released its Food Price Index which showed its highest annual level on record, jumping more than 14 percent from 2021. The number of people experiencing food insecurity went from 135 million in 2021 to 345 million in 2022.