The world’s largest war and humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in Sudan. Most United Nations aid agencies have pulled their staff out of the country due to the extreme danger they could face. But Beatrice Lau, from Hong Kong, remained on site as Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) chief negotiator.
Her mission: to negotiate with the warring parties and ensure that the humanitarian organisation’s workers can safely access places where healthcare has all but collapsed. She makes sure staff can deliver urgent medical treatment and supplies to those most in need. The civil war in Sudan – between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – has raged for more than a year and a half.
More than 10 million people – a fifth of the population – are estimated to have fled their homes and become internally displaced. The scale of internal displacement is now six times worse than in Gaza and almost three times worse than in Ukraine, according to U.N.
statistics. Another two million people have fled to neighbouring countries, making it the largest and fastest growing humanitarian crisis in the world. MSF alone has treated nearly 12,000 people wounded in the war, as of June this year.
Sudan was plagued by civil war for most of the second half of the 20th century, between the central government and forces in the south of the country. Ceasefires and negotiations over the years finally yielded a peace agreement in 2005. This gave way to a referendum.
