Sudan…the tragedy of a country searching for lost stability

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan between the regular army and the Rapid Support Forces, the country has not known the stability that was supposed to be achieved after a series of agreements aimed at establishing security and ending the cycle of long conflict. These agreements collapsed successively due to a complex set of internal, regional and international factors, most notably the absence of a real will to end the war, conflicts of economic interests, and political divisions within the state structure. As an inevitable result of this problem, the tragedy deepens amid international silence hiding behind statements of concern, while Sudan is experiencing a stifling siege, increasing famine, and the collapse of basic services, especially in the city of El Fasher in Darfur, which is a strategic region of great commercial importance to the African coast. While United Nations reports talk about the scale of the worsening humanitarian catastrophe, observers believe that the Rapid Support Forces bear the greatest share of responsibility for these miserable conditions, after they turned into an armed faction seeking to impose a reality on the ground by force, outside any unifying political or national framework. It expanded its operations within cities, and invaded villages and displacement centers, leading to the killing of thousands, the displacement of millions, and the destruction of the social fabric in the most fragile areas of Sudan. Its practices were characterized by systematic violence against civilians, and the use of the weapons of hunger and siege as a tool of control, in flagrant violation of all international humanitarian laws. With the expansion of internal displacement, millions of Sudanese today live in harsh humanitarian conditions, lacking food, water and medicine, while international organizations fail to respond with the required scale and speed. The responsibility of the Rapid Support for this catastrophe is no longer a matter of debate, as it is what ignited division, weakened state institutions, and opened the door to regional interventions and waves of smuggling and illegal armament. Many international reports reveal how the conflict in Sudan has transformed from a political dispute into a war of survival, in which the indicators of the national state are eroded, and in which the patience of Sudanese society and its ability to withstand are tested, while the army tries to preserve what remains of the state structure. With the failure of all previous ceasefire attempts, it seems that the road to a political settlement is still far away, unless a unified Sudanese will is crystallized that puts the country’s interest above factional accounts and external loyalties – especially since the continuation of the war means opening the door to a new wave of chaos and cross-border displacement.