At a European Parliament hearing on 8 October about the humanitarian crisis caused by the civil war, EU officials and MEPs asked how they could raise media coverage of Sudan’s ‘forgotten’ war. It is a remarkable but accurate indictment and description of a war has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than eight million people and left more than half of Sudan’s population urgently needing humanitarian aid.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have received more attention but another major reason why the war has become so intractable is because regional powers have used it as a proxy conflict.

Attempts to mediate a ceasefire by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others have failed because none are seen by either side as honest brokers.

On 17 October, EU leaders are expected to express ‘deepest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Sudan’ and call for an immediate ceasefire. The day before, at a summit with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council as Africa Confidential went to press, EU leaders largely failed to tackle the United Arab Emirates' military support for the Rapid Support Forces. Though Saudi Arabia and Qatar support General Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s Sudan Armed Forces, Abu Dhabi’s supply of weapons to the RSF is the most egregious case of foreign interference. Ending the proxy war has become vital to ending a conflict which now threatens to spill into neighbouring states.