SalaaMedia Report
The border crossing leading to Darfur have remained close to the flow of humanitarian aid as a result of the war and natural disasters such as floods and rains. The opening of the Adre border crossing between Sudan and Chad was announced to deliver humanitarian aid to Darfur; the first shipment of aid arrived on August 20.
In this report, SalaaMedia sheds light on the the process of opening the crossings and the challenges they face, in addition to to the internal and external reactions to the feasibility of opening these crossings.
The Crossings
The announcement of the Sovereignty Council in Sudan was followed by commitments by the two warring parties before the mediation committee formed by the group of mediating countries and the United Nations in Geneva; accordingly; the mediation issued a statement on August 23 confirming the commitment of the two parties to open the Adre and Daba crossings.
Adre Crossing
The United Nations report that 1,814 metric tons of humanitarian aid loaded in 59 trucks were transported through the Adre crossing between August 20 and 30, 2024; including (food supplies, shelter materials, medical supplies, and therapeutic nutrition) to help approximately 195,000 individuals, equivalent to 45% of the total individuals in the 5th phase of famine in different areas of the region. About 128 trucks of aid are currently being prepared to help 355,000 individuals in the coming days. The SalaaMedia team noted that of the humanitarian aid trucks that entered through the Adre crossing between 20 and 30 August, 47 trucks were allocated to West Darfur state, perhaps for reasons related to the declaration of Al-Jenena as a disaster area or its proximity to the border.
The Director of the International Relief and Humanitarian Operations Agency in West Darfur, Daw Al-Bait Yaqoub, told SalaaMedia that aid had flowed into the state through the Adre crossing and was now being distributed in 11 administrative units in the localities of Sirba, and Keirinek. He added that the total aid that had reached the state was not enough to cover the total need.
Hafiza Abdullah, a human rights activist in Central Darfur state, told SalaaMedia that humanitarian aid had not reached the state, attributing to this natural factors such as road closures due to floods. The Director of the International Relief and Humanitarian Operations Agency, Khalid Ismail, confirmed this to SalaaMedia that Central Darfur state had not yet received any aid, and confirmed that trucks were piled up in the Morni area due to the collapse of the bridge linking West and Central Darfur states.
Challenges of Aid Access
The access and distribution of humanitarian aid faced a number of challenges, including guarantees for the protection of humanitarian workers, which the mediation indicated in its statement on August 23. Regarding the approvals for the passage of aid, Tom Perielo, the US envoy in Sudan, indicated that they reached an agreement with the two parties to the conflict to facilitate its extraction. While SalaaMedia noted in a previous report on natural disasters in Darfur that among these challenges is the interruption of roads linking Darfur towns due to the floods and rains.
In this context, experts spoke to SalaaMedia about the process of opening the Adre border crossing and its impact on saving the lives of the hungry.
Adam Mahdi, Director of of Darfur 24 newspaper, said that the crossings can help reduce the food crisis in the region after the approval of the armed forces, the process faces some challenges, including the lack of experience of the Rapid Support Forces in managing the process and their inability to resolve the chaos.
For this part, Mohamed Hassan, Director of the Darfur Human Rights Network, stressed the need for the parties to the war to abide by the International Humanitarian Law and allow aid to reach to save the lives of civilians. He reiterated the demand for the international community to intervene by all means, by land and air, to deliver aid.
It is clear that the opening of the Adre border crossing contributed to the entry of a quantity of aid that will be reflected in alleviating the need for food in the region; while no movement of aid was monitored through the Dabba crossing. Despite the recent Geneva talks overcoming a number of obstacles related to the arrival of aid, some of them still exist, especially those related to rains and floods, which was reflected in the possibility to aid reaching to all areas of the region. No aid was monitored to the states of South, East and Central Darfur that did not receive aid, perhaps due to reasons related to road closures due to rains and floods and considering the road map, the Dabba crossing is the most suitable for delivering aid to those states.