Joint donor statement condemning attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers in Sudan by the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the attack on a humanitarian convoy of 15 trucks from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Al Koma, North Darfur, on the night of 2 June, which resulted in the death of five members of the convoy and injuring several others. Four of the 15 trucks in the convoy were destroyed in the attack and five more sustained partial damage. These trucks were carrying about 100 metric tons of essential nutrition, health, education, and WASH supplies, intended to support children and families in El Fasher town.
The deliberate targeting of humanitarian personnel is a violation of international law. Civilians and humanitarian workers must not be targeted by parties to the armed conflict. We urge all parties to allow civilians to safely exit areas with ongoing hostilities, and to guarantee immediate, unconditional, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to deliver assistance to those in urgent need throughout Sudan.
We repeat our call to the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces and their militias to immediately cease hostilities and uphold their obligations towards international humanitarian law, which includes the obligation to protect civilians and civilian objects – as also reiterated in the UN Security Council resolution 2730 (2024). Once again, we stress the civilian character of humanitarian agencies, the neutral and impartial nature of their life-saving operations, and the need for them to operate across all of Sudan, regardless of area of control.
This attack represents yet another deadly and unacceptable attack on civilians and humanitarian workers since the beginning of this armed conflict two years ago, in blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. We remind the parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and their assets.
Last April, the international community strongly condemned the attacks on Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps which resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians and at least 12 aid workers. Just last week, a hospital was targeted in El Obeid, North Kordofan. On several occasions, UN and NGOs offices throughout the country have been directly hit, including WFP’s office in El Fasher only last week. These are just some of the many attacks over the past two years targeting civilians, aid workers and facilities, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure, which constitute direct violations of international humanitarian law.
We deplore all loss of civilian life resulting from acts of war throughout this conflict. The continuous attacks on humanitarian aid workers cannot be normalised. These serious and continued violations of international humanitarian law committed by the warring parties are unacceptable and must cease immediately.
We support the UN Secretary General’s call for an immediate and independent investigation into this attack and accountability of the perpetrators.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and colleagues of those killed and those who have been injured while working to deliver humanitarian assistance under extremely dangerous conditions.”
