Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe and proxy war

The position holds that Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe and a proxy war that the world is failing to stop. Its advocates speak of famine and starvation, mass displacement, hospital strikes and mass atrocities in Darfur and El Fasher, use the word genocide, and call for civilian protection and action by the International Criminal Court.

The position appears in coverage of the civil war in Sudan, in two strands. In one, 13 publishers from Western and allied countries stress humanitarian catastrophe and genocide. In the other, 11 publishers describe a proxy war backed by the United Arab Emirates, pointing to arms flows through Chad and to the role of outside backers of the Rapid Support Forces.

The material names no competing position. The events of recent months show a war that observers describe as the world's deadliest and its largest humanitarian catastrophe, now in its fourth year. A drone strike by the Sudanese army killed at least 35 people at a court session in an area held by the RSF in Darfur, and Chad said a drone attack from Sudan killed 17 people and warned of retaliation. Sudan called a donor conference in Berlin unacceptable, and Ethiopia accused Sudan and Egypt of backing Tigray rebels.