What’s Happening
The European Council has “adopted restrictive measures against six entities” in Sudan as fighting between the Sudanese military government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shows no signs of stopping.
The EU’s sanctions target three companies which support the military government and three which support the RSF, respectively.
Namely, the sanctions against government aligned companies target Defense Industries System and SMT Engineering, who manufacture both weapons and vehicles for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as well as the Zadna International Company for Investment Limited, a government-controlled company.
Al Junaid Multi Activities Co Ltd, Tradive General Trading and GSK Advance Company Ltd have all been sanctioned for procuring weapons for the RSF.
The EU Council states “the entities listed are subject to asset freezes. The provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to them or for their benefit is prohibited”.
The EU has continually condemned the war in Sudan between the SAF and the RSF, which has been ongoing for 9 months.
Continuing Escalations
Despite mounting international calls for peace, the war in Sudan is showing few signs of slowing down.
Since the beginning of the war, approximately 7.6 million people have been displaced, around 1.5 million of which have become refugees outside of Sudan, with a large number escaping to neighbouring Chad.
Additionally, 18 million people in Sudan are facing acute hunger, of which five million are facing emergency levels of hunger. Over 75% of those in emergency hunger are largely unreachable by humanitarian organizations because of the heavy fighting throughout the country.
The UN has warned that if the situation does not improve soon, it could very quickly give way into a famine.
The Sudanese government has largely rejected repeated attempts of negotiations with the RSF, particularly as the RSF makes military gains throughout the country. As the RSF gains more ground, any negotiations will look less and less favourable for the government.
The RSF has stated their willingness to agree to a ceasefire, if the government is held to the same principles which they are.
