The Guardian view on the gathering disaster in Sudan: a war that the world is ignoring | Editorial

Millions are displaced and starving as two generals fight for power and other countries pursue their own interests

Even before a communications blackout hit Sudan two weeks ago, few were watching a war that has killed thousands of people and displaced more - almost 8million - than any other current conflict. It's not a forgotten crisis. It's a wholly ignored crisis," Kitty van der Heijden of Unicef told a meeting at the Munich Security Conference last week.

Eighteen million people in Sudan are acutely food insecure, and around 3.8 million children are malnourished. At the Zamzam camp in Darfur, a child dies every two hours. There have been widespread atrocities including massacres and sexual violence. JanEgeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warns that textbook ethnic cleansing" in Darfur - by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militias - has forced almost 700,000 to flee. Yet while the region's genocidal violence became a global cause two decades ago, it barely registers now.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.