Syria: Bedouin Clan Joins Sweida Protests

 Photo of Sweida protests (Facebook)
Photo of Sweida protests (Facebook)
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Syria: Bedouin Clan Joins Sweida Protests

 Photo of Sweida protests (Facebook)
Photo of Sweida protests (Facebook)

Bedouin clans in southern Syria joined the popular protests taking place in Sweida Governorate for the fifth day in a row.

Local sources in the region told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that a delegation of youth from the southern tribes arrived at Al-Seer Square in the city of Sweida, and joined the protesters, declaring their solidarity with the popular uprising, and chanting: “Bedouins and Druze are hand in hand.”

Video clips broadcasted by the Sweida 24 website showed young Bedouin tribesmen from the south joining the protesters, amid welcoming cheers from the region’s Druze population, the sources reported.

They stressed that the move came in response to attempts by the security services during the past decades to ignite discord between the Druze and the Sunni Bedouin communities.

The participation of the Bedouin clans is an important shift in the course of the protests, which no longer represent a specific sect, but rather the majority of the Syrian population, the sources underlined. It also highlights the historical relations that linked Sweida with its surrounding Bedouin clans, in the face of all those who tried to sow discord during the past years.

This came hours after Damascus made an attempt to contain the protests by assigning the governor of Sweida, Bassam Parsik, to meet with the spiritual head of the Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, in the town of Qanawat, on Wednesday evening.

Media reports said that the governor was dispatched by Damascus to calm down the situation and offer a set of solutions. However, Al-Hijri rejected the proposal, saying that the matter did not require mediation.

“There won’t be any contacts before the demands of the street are met,” he stated.



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.