BRUSSELS, Nov 25 (KUNA) -- European Commissioner for Crisis Preparedness, Management and Equality Hadja Lahbib said Tuesday Sudan represents one of the largest and most dangerous food-crisis hotspots in the world, with over 21 million people facing acute food insecurity.
Lahbib stated in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg during a plenary session dedicated in part to discussing the crisis in Sudan, that after three years of "war, destruction, and atrocities", the humanitarian situation in Sudan has become catastrophic, with civilians facing hunger, malnutrition, and increasing threats.
She added that diseases are spreading at a time when humanitarian assistance is being obstructed, stressing that what is happening in Darfur and Kordofan is extremely shocking, noting that thousands of civilians in El-Fasher have been killed on an ethnic basis.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Lahbib called for concrete measures to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, and to ensure immediate humanitarian access to those in need.
She underlined the need to pressure external actors involved in the conflict to halt their interference, explaining that since the start of the war in April 2023, more than 100 humanitarian workers, most of them Sudanese, have been killed.
Lahbib also expressed her strong condemnation of attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians following their recent takeover of several towns, noting that these attacks included grave violations and summary executions targeting specific groups on ethnic grounds. (End) arn.mt