Away from the election: Sudan is suffering

A humanitarian crisis and a brutal war point to the challenges for our next Foreign Secretary

As the UK election period swings into full force, it is easy to forget the rest of the world rolls on. In this period it is even harder for the less broadly reported, less confidently understood news stories to get any attention. Gaza and Ukraine will just about remain as regular headlines. Elsewhere, other stories will be almost completely ignored. The ongoing crisis in Sudan is such a story.

For more than a year now, the country has been plagued by brutal violence. This is spilling into a full-scale humanitarian crisis.  Thousands are already dead, millions displaced. Credible accusations of crimes against humanity and genocide abound. The country, however, sits low on the world’s list of priorities. This is a dangerous mistake. The situation is set to get worse with significant humanitarian and geopolitical consequences. It is a broader example of our ignorance of and retreat from the problems across the Sahel.