The Carter Center on Tuesday issued a call for a cease-fire in Sudan's war, which has entered a new phase of expansion since December. File Photo by Sudanese Armed Forces/UPI |
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March 5 (UPI) -- As Sudan's bloody civil war nears its grim one-year mark, The Carter Center on Tuesday called for a cease-fire and for its warring sides, civil society and the international community to use dialogue and negotiations as a path to peace.
"Sudan is on the brink of catastrophe after nearly one year of devastating violence. The window to prevent the conflict in Sudan from spreading into a regional one is closing," the nonprofit, nongovernmental organization said in a statement.
"Refugee outflows and returnees -- numbering in the millions -- risk heightening tensions across the region. The crisis, which has put the majority of Sudan's population in dire need of humanitarian assistance, underscores the critical need for decisive action."
Sudan has teetered on the precipice of catastrophe since civil war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its breakaway Rapid Support Forces on April 15.
However, according to The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, the war has taken a turn since December, and the RSF has seized control of most of the five Darfur states and all of Al Jazirah, leading to the expansion of fighting into new regions of the country.
Some 5.4 million people within the Northeast African nation have already been displaced amid the war with another 1.4 million sent fleeing to neighboring countries, according to United Nations' figures.
Roughly 14 million have been thrust into urgent need of life-saving humanitarian support, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund estimates.
And the ACLED reports that as of early last month, some 14,600 people have lost their lives in the conflict.
Various branches and officials of the United Nations have been warning for months that the war was deepening into a full-fledged civil war, and the International Criminal Court late last month said there are grounds to believe that war crimes were being committed amid the conflict in Darfur.
The Carter Center, which was founded by former President Jimmy Carter, said it is calling on the Sudanese and the international community "to act immediately to end the violence and resulting humanitarian crisis and prevent the conflict from destabilizing the region."
