Sudan's rival factions are profiting from the country's resources, with a growing war economy fueling the conflict, the United Nations said Wednesday.
To fund the growing cost of military operations, the two sides rely on exploiting territory, trade routes and commodities, contributing to a conflict that has become "increasingly self-perpetuating," said the U.N. human rights office, OHCHR.
The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023, has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced upward of 11 million. Several areas of Sudan have been plunged into hunger and famine.
OHCHR called on the two sides and corporations involved in collecting and selling Sudanese commodities to ensure compliance with international law.
"Sudan's vast wealth of natural resources should benefit its people," said U.N. rights chief Volker Türk.
