Emmanuel Macron calls for “laying down arms” and a “ceasefire” in Sudan

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called on the belligerents in Sudan to “put down your arms” after a year and a half of a war which ravaged the country, believing that the only possible path is that “ceasefire, negotiation”.

“We call on stakeholders to lay down their arms and on all regional actors who can play a role, to do so in a positive way, in the interest of the population who have suffered too much”declared Emmanuel Macron on tour in the Horn of Africa, following an interview with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

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“The only process that can exist in Sudan is that of a ceasefire, of negotiation and of restoring its place to civil society which was so admirable in the revolution”he said, in reference to the popular movement which ousted former President Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019, raising immense hopes.

But since April 2023, a war has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.

The fighting has left tens of thousands dead and more than 11 million displaced.

Around 26 million people are already facing severe food insecurity, according to the UN, which again sounded the alarm on Thursday about the situation in the country which risks suffering the most serious food crisis in history. recent world.

In total, aid of $4.2 billion is needed to meet the needs of the Sudanese in 2025, warned Edem Wosornu, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.