Orphanage Evacuated in Sudan as Over 70 Children Succumb to Illness and Starvation

About 300 children have been evacuated to safety from an orphanage in the contested Sudanese capital, Khartoum. According to UNICEF, 70 children are believed to have died at the orphanage. The children have been taken in by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Health, with UNICEF providing assistance. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported the evacuation, with 70 caretakers accompanying the children to their new facility in Madani, some 135 kilometers southeast of Khartoum.

Evacuation a "Beacon of Hope"

The evacuation has been a "beacon of hope" in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, said Mandeep O'Brien, UNICEF's representative in Sudan. In total, more than 13.6 million children in the country require urgent humanitarian aid.

Activist: More than 70 Children Died

Nasim Sirag, who heads the local charity Hadrien, stated that since the start of the Sudan conflict on April 15th, at least 71 children at the Al-Maykoma orphanage have died, most from disease or starvation. Both the children and their caretakers have been trapped in the orphanage for over seven weeks amid fighting in the capital and have not been able to receive aid.

Talks Suspended Indefinitely

In Sudan, Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, are fighting for power. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have not been successful, with aid organizations being hindered and attacked, despite both sides agreeing to humanitarian ceasefires. Various agreements for ceasefires have been made since the escalation of violence in mid-April, but have repeatedly been broken. The latest ceasefire agreement expired last Saturday. Talks moderated by the United States and Saudi Arabia between the conflicting parties in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah have been suspended indefinitely.