Our editors’ weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.
On our radar
Aid trucks given the all-clear to move into famine-hit Darfur
Sudan’s army has removed restrictions imposed in February on aid trucks moving into the famine-stricken Darfur region through the Adré crossing in neighbouring Chad. Adré provides the most direct route into Darfur but was sealed off by the army because it doesn’t want aid going into a region controlled by its rival – the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The UN complied because it sees the army as the de facto authority in Sudan – even though it took power in a 2021 coup – but some NGOs have told The New Humanitarian they ignored the order. The head of the UN’s emergency aid coordination agency in Sudan said 15 trucks have crossed since the ban was lifted but that further movements are awaiting procedural agreements, and rain and RSF obstruction might affect onward travel. Famine was declared in Darfur earlier this month by the Famine Review Committee, which is part of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – a system for measuring food crises that includes UN agencies, aid groups, and governments. The declaration is the IPC’s first in over seven years and only the third since the system was designed 20 years ago.
7 years on, Myanmar’s Rohingya are fleeing once again
On the seventh anniversary of the mass atrocities that saw 740,000 Rohingya refugees flee western Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, Amnesty International has warned of “disturbingly familiar” patterns of violence. “Rohingya men, women and children are being killed, towns are emptying out, and vestiges of Rohingya history and identity are being eroded. Many are once again seeking shelter in refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh, where economic, security and livelihood conditions have deteriorated,” said Amnesty’s Joe Freeman. But there are some key differences to 2017. Myanmar’s military, responsible for most of the abuses seven years ago, is now on the defensive amid a fast-changing civil war. One of the groups fighting the military junta, the Arakan Army, is now accused of targeting the Rohingya, in particular a 5 August attack on fleeing refugees that reportedly included the use of drones. “This isn’t just a matter of Rohingya being caught between the Arakan Army and the military,” a UN official told the Guardian. “This is different: this is the Arakan Army targeting Rohingya specifically as the military is completely driven out.” In a further difference to 2017’s violence, the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is reported to be allied to the Myanmar military against the Arakan Army. Seven years ago, it was ARSA’s attacks on Myanmar security forces that sparked the military campaign that led to the mass exodus.
As Gaza talks stall, Lebanon-Israel attacks escalate
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel to end the more than 10-month war in the Gaza Strip are reportedly at a standstill. One major sticking point is an Israeli demand to keep soldiers stationed inside Gaza along two key corridors, one on the southern border with Egypt and the other south of Gaza City, dividing the enclave in two. The US proposal currently under discussion also reportedly lacks Israeli guarantees that the three-phase deal would result in a permanent ceasefire. As the talks continue, the Middle East is still bracing for a possible wider regional war. Cross-border bombardment between the Lebanese political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah and Israel has been escalating. An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed 10 Syrian nationals on 17 August, including a woman and two children. Israel claimed it was targeting a weapons depot. A relative of three of the people killed said they were factory workers. Hezbollah has also carried out multiple strikes on northern Israel. Meanwhile, concerns about a potential polio outbreak in Gaza are increasing after the World Health Organization confirmed that a 10-month-old child in Deir al-Balah became partially paralysed after contracting the disease – the first case in the enclave in 25 years. UN agencies and the Palestinian Health Ministry are working to begin a vaccination drive in the coming weeks. The dire and unstable conditions in Gaza will likely make the effort difficult. Continued Israeli evacuation orders – 12 in August alone – have repeatedly displaced people, disrupting their ability to access already limited services and wearing down their ability to cope, according to the UN. For more, read: I have been forcibly displaced 12 times by Israel’s war in Gaza.
Bleak outlook as South Sudan gears up for first elections
The UN’s top envoy in South Sudan has said the country is not fully prepared for presidential elections that are set for December and supposed to be the country’s first since independence. Nicholas Haysom, who heads up the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, said consultations on whether polls will be held this year are continuing between political groups and that key steps must be taken if the vote is to be credible. South Sudan is currently in a transitional period following the signing of a peace deal in 2018. Yet instead of pursuing reconciliation, the ruling party has spent much of the period weakening the opposition by courting defections. Rates of violence have stayed stubbornly high as political and military elites have jostled for power, and the humanitarian and economic situation is bleak too. The war in Sudan has also disrupted oil exports – the government’s main revenue source – and flooding is expected to drive parts of the country into famine in the months ahead.
Libya’s power struggles loom large
Increasing tensions between Libya’s competing powers have many people worried that the country could be headed back towards civil war, with civilians – as ever – stuck in the middle and about to pay a heavy price. As a new report from the European Council on Foreign Relations put it: “In recent weeks, Libya has been collapsing at every level.” The country remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in the capital, Tripoli, and a rival administration in the east led by military commander Khalifa Haftar. Recent turmoil includes the blockade of a major oilfield, a new advance by forces loyal to Haftar, an attempted firing of the central bank’s governor, and the kidnapping of the bank’s head of IT (he was returned after a few hours). None of these events are good signs in a country where leaders are still unable to come to an agreement about how to hold elections, and where multiple militias are already armed and ready for action. Meanwhile, people in southwestern Libya are dealing with the aftermath of heavy rainfall that displaced more than 5,800 people. The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and LibAid said they were delivering emergency supplies, including blankets, tarps, and hygiene materials.
Mpox vaccine delays underline global health inequity
The shortage of mpox vaccines for African countries struggling with the spread of the virus underscores once again the inequalities in global health. The overwhelming concentration of cases are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an epidemic was declared in 2022 but went unchecked. It is now ground zero for a more dangerous strain, which has spread to 13 other African countries since the beginning of the year, and recently to a handful of countries further afield. So far, there have been under 550 deaths globally. The vast majority of those deaths have been in DRC and yet, despite the availability of vaccines, the first doses won’t arrive there until next week. When they do, conflict, displacement, and horrendous logistics are expected to hamper their distribution. Ramping up production to the 10 million doses Africa reportedly needs will require placing orders now – a cost some struggling local economies will be hard-pressed to meet. As with COVID, global solidarity is being tested. The danger – as ever – is that a delayed response may see the emergence of even more deadly strains.
Weekend read
Border closures and intensifying conflict worsen Myanmar’s healthcare crisis
‘We are unable to receive the treatment we desperately need.’
As the conflict between the junta and armed groups heats up, more and more people are unable to get the urgent treatments they need.
And finally…
Emmy organisers defend Bisan Owda nomination
The organisation behind the Emmy Awards has defended its nomination of Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda, dismissing accusations by pro-Israel celebrities that Owda has ties to a Palestinian resistance group accused of terrorism. Owda, 25, was nominated last month for her documentary “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive”, produced with AJ+. The film depicts the daily lives of Gazans under Israeli bombardment and won a Peabody Award earlier this year. On 2 August, the pro-Israel group Creative Community For Peace accused Owda of having spoken at rallies organised by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) when she was a teen. Over 150 entertainment industry figures, including Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban and actresses Debra Messing and Selma Blair, signed a letter calling on the Emmys organisation to rescind Owda’s nomination. The Emmys organisation responded on 20 August, saying it could not corroborate the celebrities’ accusations, adding that its journalistic mission includes “giving a platform to voices that certain viewers may find objectionable or even abhorrent” in order to “illuminate even the darkest circumstances”.
