Crisis in Sudan

**Brian Lehrer** (0:01)
A little footnote to the last segment. Few people writing to say that Bill Horowitz is listed as the writer of the Rosemary Wood song that Amy in Manhattan graced us with a few lines of in song, not just the singer. So that credit where credit is due. And listeners, it's newsletter day and you can sign up for free for The Brian Lehrer Show newsletter and includes a weekly column for me. It's written and ready to send. A reader question for you to answer if you choose and some other features to sign up, just go to wnyc.org.blnewsletter.
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Name a country where the US is aiding and abetting genocide by selling arms to a perpetrator nation. Okay, I know it's one you're all thinking. And that debate is important and has proven itself to be central to the midterm elections this year. But do you even know about this one? Here is Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, at a hearing in December on countries aiding the slaughter and displacement crisis in Sudan.

**Sarah Jacobs** (1:29)
The UAE, for example, is the main backer of the RSF and has made it possible for its genocide to take place. At this point, we've all seen the widespread and credible reporting detailing the UAE's funneling of weapons to the RSF and their efforts to hide it.
But instead of using the US's significant leverage to pressure the UAE to stop arming the RSF, the Trump administration blew through ranking member Meek's congressional hold in May and approved a $1 billion arms sale.

**Brian Lehrer** (2:00)
Trump's relationship with the UAE, the United Arab Emirates, is suspected by Congressmember Jacobs and other Democrats of being corrupt as the UAE enables the globally and bipartisanly recognized genocide in Sudan. Just yesterday, you probably haven't heard this, I saw it in the Washington Post. Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asking whether the administration's decision to ease export controls on the United Arab Emirates was influenced by UAE-linked investments in the Trump family's crypto venture.
Now, how bad is the situation in Sudan? The BBC reports nearly 12 million people driven from their homes and famine conditions continuing. The International Rescue Committee, the big refugee aid and policy group, said this year that Sudan tops its watchlist as the country most likely to experience a worsening humanitarian crisis. So with us now, Ciarán Donnelly, the International Rescue Committee Senior Vice President for International Programs, Crisis Response, Recovery and Development. He oversees humanitarian programs in Sudan and more than 40 other countries worldwide. Also with us is Mark Townsend, Senior Global Development Reporter for The Guardian and author of the 2020 book No Return, The True Story of How Martyrs Are Made about Brits who got radicalized and went to fight in Syria back at that time. Mark from The Guardian, welcome. Ciarán from the IRC, welcome back to WNYC.

**Ciarán Donnelly** (3:38)
Thanks for having me on, Brian.

**Brian Lehrer** (3:39)
Do we have both of you?

**Mark Townsend** (3:40)
Yeah, thank you.

**Brian Lehrer** (3:41)
Thanks for having me. Ciarán, why is Sudan at the top of your watchlist? As the country most likely to experience a worsening humanitarian crisis?

**Ciarán Donnelly** (3:52)
First, Brian, I want to thank you for shining a light on the situation in Sudan, which gets regrettably little attention in global media these days, so very much appreciate the opportunity.
In our 2026 watchlist, we identified three factors that are accelerating the impact of humanitarian crises globally. An increasingly transactional and exploitative approach to conflicts around the world, increased impunity for attacks against civilians and aid workers, and a dramatic reduction in support for both humanitarian response to the impacts of crisis and political and diplomatic engagement to bring about an end to conflict and crisis. Sudan tops our watchlist for this year and has remained there, because all of these trends, all of these dynamics, are really turbocharging the continued conflict across the country, as we're seeing currently in the situation around El Obaid city in North Kordofan, and the impact on humanitarian, on civilian populations, which is really catastrophic.

**Brian Lehrer** (5:01)
Mark, most Americans know very little about Sudan, as Ciarán was just indicating, or the parties to the war there. The current war broke out in 2023 between the SAF, the Sudanese Armed Forces controlled by the current government, and the opposition military known as the Rapid Support Forces or RSF. Who in brief are these two opposing forces, and what interests are they fighting over?

**Mark Townsend** (5:27)
Okay, yeah, so the RSF, ostensibly, it's been likened to a kind of massive organized crime group, basically, with massive weaponry funded to the hilt by the Emiratis. It's made up of kids, mercenaries, you know, very poor communities, been dragged in right across the hell in Africa. And that's the group that's been accused of genocide by the US. And it's lined up against the, as you said, the military, which, you know, again, it's kind of quoted controversy. You know, it's aligned with various Islamist factions. And the truth is, you know, there's no angels in this war.