US to Send Additional $160M in Humanitarian Aid to Sudan

Facts

• In a visit to the Sudan-Chad border, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced Wednesday that the US will send $163M in humanitarian aid in response to the Sudanese refugee crisis as she toured a settlement housing 200K civilians who have fled the civil war.¹
• This latest aid package, bringing the total amount given by the US to almost $710M, comes as the UN migration agency reported that more than 5M Sudanese have been displaced, including over 400K fleeing across the border to Chad.²
• The US Agency for International Development claimed in a press release that the widespread conflict between Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has resulted in thousands of deaths and grave protection violations.³
• Meanwhile, the Treasury Dept. has sanctioned Abdel-Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the brother of the leader of the paramilitary RSF and a senior commander himself, on allegations related to ethnic killings, use of sexual violence, and civilian massacres.⁴
• The sanctions against Abdel-Rahim, the first targeting an individual since the conflict broke out nearly five months ago, block all property and entities he owns in the US.⁵
• The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project conservatively estimates that some 5K people have been killed in the monthslong violence that has reportedly put one-eighth of Sudan's population 'one step away from famine.'⁶

Sources: ¹NBC, ²NPR Online News, ³U.s. agency for international development, ⁴Associated Press, ⁵France 24 and ⁶Voa.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Unhcr us. Sudan is in need of financial aid more than ever before, as shown by the UN's request for another $1B dollars in aid. With only 20% of that sum donated so far, donors and countries that can afford to, such as the US, are the Sudanese people's only hope. This money will help treat child-killing illnesses like cholera and measles, as well as build the infrastructure to accommodate the countless refugees crossing the border every day.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Grayzone. Sudan's problems, from extreme poverty and malnutrition to today's armed conflicts, stem not from warring factions who pop up out of nowhere but rather from Western meddling dating back a hundred years or more, from British rule to the US neo-colonist empire of oil grabbing and military intervention. Western governments so kindly offering humanitarian aid today are the same ones who toyed with Sudan for decades solely to steal its resources and combat China's rise in the region.

Predictions