US urges Sudan’s warring parties to permit humanitarian aid entry
On December 31st the United States called on all warring parties in Sudan’s civil war to “meet their obligations to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian assistance”, according to Middle East Monitor.
The appeal was made in a statement posted on X by Massad Boulos, who is US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Arab and African affairs.
Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal and escalating civil war since April 2023 after a power struggle between the national military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) turned violent.
Boulos’ statement declared that Washington “commends the important decision taken by the Sudanese authorities to extend the opening of the Adre border crossing [with Chad] to allow humanitarian access.”
The internationally recognised Sudanese government based in Khartoum announced on December 31st that it was extending the opening of the crossing for three months to facilitate the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid, according to Anadolu.
The Adre crossing was initially closed on 25th July, 2024, by authorities who asserted that the route was used to smuggle illicit arms to the RSF, a claim backed by western diplomats and UN officials.
The Sudanese government reopened the crossing on August 15th, 2024, in compliance with a formal request by the United Nations to do so in response to deteriorating humanitarian conditions caused by the conflict.
The International Rescue Committee recently estimated that Sudan’s conflict has displaced at least 12 million people and has caused “the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.
Boulos’ statement continued, stressing that “all Sudanese actors should uphold their obligations for unhindered humanitarian assistance and immediately agree to a humanitarian truce to allow more aid to reach the Sudanese people and set the groundwork for a durable peace.”
Sudan’s military chief and de facto ruler, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has persistently called on the US to intervene in the conflict, commending Trump’s “determination to engage in efforts to achieve peace and end the war in the country.”
This comes despite Burhan previously slamming Boulos as “an obstacle to the peace sought by all Sudanese” after the latter submitted a ceasefire proposal drafted by Washington and three other mediating states.
Despite Washington’s verbal concern for the desperate humanitarian situation on the ground in Sudan, much of the harm has in fact been directly caused by US policy under Trump.
The administration’s decision to freeze foreign aid programmes for 90 days forced the closure of nearly 80% of all emergency food kitchens set up in Sudan, with aid volunteers stating in February 2025 that more than 1,100 communal kitchens were forced to shut down.
The UN has since estimated that 24 million Sudanese, roughly half the population, are facing acute food shortages.
Middle East Monitor, Maghrebi.org, International Rescue Committee
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