Members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee (DEVE) debated the humanitarian crisis in Sudan on Monday 14 October. Humanitarian organisations and the European Commission have been consulted on immediate means of action at a parliamentary level.
Claire San Filippo, coordinator at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), stressed the need to urgently step up the humanitarian response.
“We call on EU leaders to keep Sudan high on their agenda, to demand a ceasefire and to deliver aid by all possible means”, she said, stressing that the violence and repeated attacks on health workers were seriously compromising MSF’s ability to intervene.
Alexander Barrett, Director of Programmes for Mercy Corps, has called for increased international pressure on the warring parties, denouncing the “deliberate choices” that have led to famine in the south of the country, in Darfur and in Kordofan.
The Deputy Director of the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO), Hans Das, suggested that the DEVE committee should continue to draw attention to the crisis, step up pressure on the belligerents and call for war crimes to be denounced.
Mr Das also expressed the hope that the EU budget for Sudan would be increased. While €128 million was allocated for 2023 and €117 million has been earmarked for 2024, with the possibility of a further extension. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)