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From Our Own Correspondent: Sudan: A neglected conflict

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Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum

22/07/2023 GMT

Sudan: A neglected conflict

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Sudan: A neglected conflict

Why are international audiences seeing and hearing so little about the war in Sudan?

The difficulties of reporting on the conflict in Sudan; ethnic violence in the Indian state of Manipur; why Uruguayans have salty drinking water; and Sicily's heatwave "from hell"

Max Pearson introduces correspondent reports on Sudan, India, Uruguay and Italy. 

The conflict in Sudan between rival factions within the armed forces is now in its fourth month. The scale of the humanitarian crisis it's provoked is staggering. More than 3 million people have been displaced; some 25 million people need humanitarian assistance – that’s half the country’s population.  But why is the situation in Sudan no longer dominating Western media headlines? BBC correspondents have managed to report from Sudan’s borders with Chad and South Sudan. But as Barbara Plett Usher explains, it's been impossible to get permission to report from inside the country, while getting information out is becoming harder - which is why she's had to monitor what’s going on from Nairobi.

The Indian state of Manipur, in the northeast of the country on the border with Myanmar, has been locked in a spiral of ethnic unrest for more than two months now. The violence, between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority, has resulted in at least 130 people being killed, and sixty-thousand displaced. And there have been chilling accounts of shootings, looting and sexual assault.  A video showing two naked women in Manipur being paraded by a mob - before allegedly being gang-raped - has caused outrage; Prime Minister Modi said it shamed India. Raghvendra Rao travelled to Manipur and found a region torn in two by mistrust, anger and fear.

In Uruguay, a long drought has led to the worst water crisis in the country’s history. It was first felt by farmers but has now spread to the capital Montevideo, where half Uruguay’s population live. Drinking water is in such short supply, the authorities have started drawing salty water from the River Plate. And as Grace Livingstone learned, it’s left residents struggling. 

It’s not news that August in the Mediterranean can be scorching. But the temperatures this past week have been unusually high. Spain, Greece and Italy have all issued red alert health warnings – cautioning people that the heat poses a real threat to life.  The World Meteorological Organisation has warned the European heatwave could last well into August. But as Sofia Bettiza discovered in Sicily’s capital, Italians there are making sure as best they can that life continues as normal.

Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Emma Rippon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Photo: Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

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