Famine in Sudan: Activist Marine Alneel Says International Community Must Act

Senior United Nations officials are calling on the international community for help in getting humanitarian aid into Sudan after a famine was declared in at least one part of the Darfur region following 15 months of war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Officials say perhaps 26 million people are at risk from acute hunger, but Sudanese activist Marine Alneel warns that the true scope of the crisis could be much larger. “This is a continuous pattern in Sudan that catastrophes are always underreported, they’re underdocumented,” says Alneel, who adds that the world can’t wait for a settlement between the warring parties before acting. “What matters now is for people to eat, for people to live safely, and that is not going to happen through … the same ones who are killing us and causing us to starve.”