By any benchmark, the numbers connected to the war in Sudan are staggering.
Around 12 million people are displaced, 24 million are facing acute food shortages and up to 150,000 people killed or missing.
That is the reality of life in Sudan, two and a half years into a devastating civil war that has laid waste to large parts of the country and pushed it to the brink of collapse and with each day, the humanitarian situation grows more dire.
"Sudan has been completely turned upside down. It is now a land of volatile and shifting frontlines. There's not a single corner of the country that hasn’t been affected," says Daniel O’Malley, the Head of Delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan.
Yet, this is a conflict largely overlooked by the international community.
The war, which erupted in April 2023, stems from a violent power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The ensuing battle for control has resulted in "indiscriminate killings, mass sexual violence against women and girls, enforced disappearances and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance" according to a report published earlier this month by a panel of experts appointed by the United Nations.
It concluded that the scale and severity of the violations may amount to "war crimes and crimes against humanity".
While the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that "civilians are being slaughtered, starved, and silenced".
Of particular concern is the fate of around 260,000 people trapped in al-Fashir, a city in the western Darfur region, which is under siege by the paramilitary RSF group.
"Al-Fashir has been pounded for more than 500 days now," Daniel O’Malley tells RTÉ News.
"The main hospital has been hit about 15 times in the last year alone. Surgical teams are now operating in private homes. This is not the type of surgery that should ever take place in the living room of a house," he says.
According to local volunteer groups, Al-Fashir has become "an open-air morgue".
Reports from the city detail apocalyptic scenes - with starving civilians forced to survive on animal feed, as aid convoys remain blocked. Many of those who have attempted to escape have been executed or kidnapped.
Last weekend on 11 October, at least 60 people were reported to have been killed following an RSF drone and artillery attack on a displacement camp in the city.
Like so many other alleged atrocities in the region, few verifiable pictures emerged afterwards.
The internet is often cut off in Al-Fashir, and most people do not have the means to connect to the outside world.
A group of local activists later described the attack in harrowing detail.
"Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned alive," they said.
'No one is talking about it'
For Ireland’s Sudanese community, the ongoing crisis, and the apparent global indifference surrounding it, weighs heavily.
Dr Rania Ahmed is a Sudan-born anaesthetist based in Tralee, Co Kerry, who is President of the Sudanese Doctors Union of Ireland.
Like so many others living in Ireland, she is deeply concerned for members of her extended family who remain in Sudan.
"It’s been an ongoing tragedy for two and a half years - just pain and suffering, pain and suffering," she says.
"They’re struggling to get access to clean water. Some of them are internally displaced. Some of them haven't had electricity in two years."
Just last week, one of Dr Ahmed’s aunts suffered a stroke and was forced to travel to three different cities in search of medical care.
All but the final hospital turned her away due to lack of adequate facilities.
"I'm sure she's not going to survive," Dr Ahmed says quietly.
She notes that her aunt’s case is emblematic of the broader collapse of Sudan’s health infrastructure.
"Hospitals are lying in ruin. There is no equipment. The only cancer centre in the country is completely destroyed. At least 15 million kids don't have access to school," she says.
In addition to the health and education crises, Dr Ahmed highlights the widespread hunger prevalent in so many parts of Sudan.
"We hear people are eating animal feed, because even when you send them money, they don't have access to any groceries or any shops," she says.
Yet, despite the scale of the humanitarian disaster, she says the world remains largely silent.
"No one is talking about it, it’s forgotten," she says.
"Sometimes you feel as if (what is happening in Sudan) is normalised. People almost think - it's a country in Africa and normal to have hunger, starvation, pain, war. But it’s not.
"We need to push the world - the EU and especially the US - to act," Dr Ahmed adds.
Role of foreign players
Though the eyes of the world may be focused elsewhere at present, the crisis in Sudan still commands the attention of several key regional players.
And not just a passing interest either - in fact, many analysts believe foreign actors are playing a major role in extending the devastating war.
More than ten countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia have reportedly been drawn into the conflict.
In particular, the United Arab Emirates has been accused by the army of supporting the RSF. According to news agency Reuters, these are charges US lawmakers and experts have found to be credible, but which the UAE has repeatedly denied.
Egypt, and to a lesser extent Saudi Arabia, have supported the army.
"It's not that outside interests started this war, but outside interests have absolutely played a very big role in prolonging it," says Dr Walt Kilroy, Co-Director of the DCU Conflict Institute, who has previously worked in Sudan.
"We know that one of the groups, the RSF, has got a lot of backing, financial and direct arms deliveries, from the United Arab Emirates. The evidence is incontrovertible. And somehow they seem to have got off scot-free," Dr Kilroy says.
However, why would the UAE be so involved in Sudan?
"Sudan, for better or worse, has some gold - and that’s one of the reasons the UAE is a player," Dr Kilroy says.
In allegedly supporting the RSF, the UAE has also been accused of contributing to ethnic cleansing, through the group’s targeting of Darfur’s non-Arabic groups.
"While this didn’t start out as an identity-based war, it has quickly taken on an ethnic component," points out Dr Kilroy.
"The RSF has turned on a very significant portion of the population in Darfur who are of African origin."
"When a conflict becomes identity-based, it puts down very deep roots... and it's much harder to resolve," he says.
Nonetheless, some efforts are being made on the international stage to find some resolution.
Last month, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt called for a
three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan followed by a permanent ceasefire.
The so-called "Quad" countries - including the UAE - are seen as having the most influence with the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force,.
Though their efforts have yet to yield results.
"Mediation and leverage are both essential, but right now, that leverage is pulling in the direction of war rather than talks," Dr Kilroy says.
Aid funding challenges
As the war grinds on, the need for aid in Sudan has never been greater. Yet international support is declining.
Latest figures provided to RTÉ News show a global funding shortfall of 74% for urgent humanitarian and protection assistance in Sudan this year.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, just €917 million has been received of the $€3.57bn required from international donors.
Much of that shortfall can be attributed to cuts by the Trump Administration to USAID.
According to Daniel O’Malley from the ICRC in Sudan, grassroots organisations are bearing the heaviest burden.
"At one point there were about 1,800 community kitchens (often referred to as Emergency Response Rooms) in Khartoum. Now there are about 600, and the number is going down," he says.
All this during a deadly outbreak of cholera.
"Before the war, Khartoum had 13 water-treatment plants. All 13 water have now been blown out of existence. So now people are drinking water directly from the river Nile and getting very sick," Mr O’Malley says.
As of early September, cholera had already caused more than 2,500 deaths, according to Sudan’s Ministry of Health, with over 100,000 suspected cases identified across the country.
The spread of this preventable disease adding yet another layer to the suffering of Sudan’s civilians during this catastrophic crisis.
