Regional and humanitarian developments: Egyptian-Syrian rapprochement, Sudan’s Pulse gold mine disaster, and Houthi escalation exacerbates the displaced crisis in Yemen

Official meetings continue between officials from Egypt and Syria in a way that diplomatic sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat believe pushes the pace of bilateral cooperation forward after a period of “stagnation.”

The most recent mutual visits were those initiated by a senior Egyptian diplomatic delegation headed by the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Arab Affairs, Ambassador Ihab Fahmy, to Damascus on Tuesday.

According to the official Syrian channel, the Advisor for Afro-Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Muhammad Al-Jaffal, received the Egyptian delegation at Damascus International Airport, and the two sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation and coordination “in a way that contributes to strengthening security and peace in the region.” They also reviewed the most prominent regional and international developments.

The visit comes weeks after Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati announced, in a television interview last August, his intention to visit Damascus. He said at the time that relations between Cairo and Damascus were “going well.”

However, an Egyptian diplomatic source denied, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, any arrangements in place with specific dates for Abdel-Ati’s visit to Damascus at the present time. He added: “Communications between the two countries are continuing, and the current diplomatic delegation’s visit comes within the framework of advancing the path of joint cooperation between Egypt and Syria.”

According to the source, the visit was arranged between the two sides “to advance economic and trade cooperation paths, and to strengthen joint cooperation paths between the two countries.”

The visit of the Egyptian diplomatic delegation to Syria is added to a series of successive meetings that brought together officials of the two countries in the recent period, the most recent of which was the meeting of Minister Abdel-Aty and his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Al-Shaibani, in Cairo on the sidelines of the meeting of the 166th session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level, on the seventh of September, where they discussed “ways to enhance cooperation and coordination between the two countries, in a way that contributes to strengthening security and peace in the region,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

This was preceded by a visit by a delegation from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, headed by the head of the Central Administration for Aviation Security, Yasser Mohamed Abdel Halim, to Syria at the end of last August, during which it inspected Damascus Airport in preparation for the resumption of direct flights between the two countries, which had been suspended since 2011.

The diplomatic source said: “The visit of Egyptian officials to Damascus came after joint arrangements between the two sides to discuss strengthening relations in various fields, especially in the fields of economy, investment and trade.”

The source believes that the visit of the Assistant Foreign Minister to Syria “constitutes a new step in the path of rapprochement and cooperation, especially after the Egyptian Foreign Minister announced his intention to visit Damascus.”

He added: “Communication between the foreign ministers of the two countries continues through multiple contacts and meetings held recently.”

Abdel-Ati and Al-Shaibani reviewed developments in joint relations and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the economic and trade fields, during their meeting on the sidelines of the Arab League meetings. According to what was stated in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s statement at the time, the Egyptian Minister affirmed “his country’s full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.”

Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, Ambassador Youssef Al-Sharqawi, says that the pace of bilateral meetings supports the path of rapprochement between the two countries, and that economic cooperation is at the forefront of the agenda of bilateral relations. Stressing that there is “a common will to develop this path in a way that reflects positively on the political rapprochement between the two sides.”

He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Egypt views the economic openness with Syria as a window to enhance interdependence and political understanding between the two countries, and the Egyptian government also aims to increase joint investments, especially in the areas of infrastructure and contributing to the reconstruction operations in Syria, in addition to doubling the rates of trade exchange by providing the Syrian market’s needs for goods and industrial products.”

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Egyptian-Syrian relations have proceeded within the framework of cautious bilateral contacts, before developing into economic cooperation between the two sides. Relations have witnessed clear momentum in recent months with numerous meetings between officials of the two countries, including a meeting between the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, and the Syrian Minister of Energy, Muhammad al-Bashir, where they discussed ways to enhance joint cooperation.

During a visit by the Syrian Foreign Minister to Cairo last May, the two countries announced the formation of a joint business council and the expansion of areas of trade and economic cooperation. In January this year, Damascus hosted the first Egyptian-Syrian economic and investment forum, with the participation of 26 leaders of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, Finance and Business.

In addition to bilateral cooperation, the former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister believes that there is “dialogue and coordination” between Cairo and Damascus on regional issues. Pointing out that the situation in the region “requires continuous communication to support the stability and sovereignty of Syria and its neighboring countries.”

Dozens of workers were killed in the collapse of a gold mine in the state of West Kordofan in Sudan, two survivors reported on Wednesday, while many are still missing and feared to have died under the rubble.

The accident occurred on Tuesday in the “Al-Zar’a Mine” near the city of Al-Nahud in the southern state of the country, and by Wednesday morning, paramedics had recovered 60 bodies.

One of the survivors, Khair Al-Sayyid Jabara, told Agence France-Presse: “We do not know how many people are still inside (...) People are making an effort to remove the bodies or the living, but the situation is difficult. “We need heavy machinery to lift stones and dirt.”

Since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, both parties have relied heavily on the gold sector to finance their war effort, according to the United Nations, in addition to the support of external parties.

The conflict caused great harm to the Sudanese economy, which was already weak, and a large number of Sudanese lost their jobs, which prompted many to engage in dangerous gold prospecting operations.

Manual excavation operations take place in informal areas or in decommissioned mines.

Al-Amin Suleiman, a worker in the mine, said, “The wells in the area are adjacent, and demolishing any well leads to the demolition of the one next to it, and this is what happened.”

He added: “There are people underground since yesterday (Tuesday), and I do not think they are alive.”

It is difficult to carry out a large-scale rescue operation in West Kordofan, which is controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, as well as the neighboring Darfur region, where it has been accused of “committing genocide”... Despite its declaration of a parallel government, its capabilities to manage the areas under its control remain limited, and the population in western Sudan depends, to a large extent, on aid and local community networks to survive.

Even before the war threatened millions of Sudanese with hunger, mining provided work for more than two million people, according to sector data.

Sudan, the third largest country in Africa in terms of area, is one of the most prominent gold producers on the continent, and last year recorded the highest level of production in five years, amounting to 70 tons, according to the data.

But officials say most of the gold is smuggled across Sudan's borders, including through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, before reaching other countries.

International data showed that children are among the groups most affected by the recent Houthi escalation in western Yemen, with 68 children killed and injured within weeks, while the number of those forced to flee their homes exceeded 100,000 people, amid international warnings of expanding waves of displacement and worsening pressures on humanitarian services in Yemen and Djibouti.

In Aden, the local authorities strengthened their response to the escalating displacement from the western regions of the country, and formed a humanitarian cell to follow up on the conditions of families who arrived in the city to escape the military operations and the repercussions that accompanied the Houthi advance on the western coast and parts of Taiz Governorate.

Save the Children said that more than one in every five civilian casualties during the recent escalation were children, noting that 19 children were killed and 49 others injured during the period between August 1 and September 9.

According to the organization, children constituted 21.1 percent of the total civilian casualties during the same period, which amounted to 323 people, including 117 dead and 206 injured. She added that one week witnessed the fall of 175 civilian casualties, including 43 children, which is the highest weekly number of child victims during the past 12 months.

Rishana Hanifa, country director of Save the Children in Yemen, said that children have suffered from crises for more than a decade. “Which made millions of them vulnerable before the recent escalation,” adding that they are “once again paying the heavy price” for the violence taking place in the country.

The organization warned that conflict and displacement coincide with high rates of infectious and water-borne diseases, in addition to heavy rains and floods, and that “the combination of these factors may lead to an exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis within a short period.”

“Displacement beyond borders”

In this context, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that more than 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes during the past days, with fighting continuing on a number of Yemeni fronts, while security risks prompted thousands of others to cross the sea towards Djibouti in search of safety.

The UNHCR expressed its fears of new waves of displacement within Yemen and additional refugee movements in the event of an escalation in combat operations. She said that many families had to leave in a hurry, taking with them few possessions, while the need for shelter, food, clean water, health care and protection services became among the urgent priorities.

She pointed out that host communities and displacement sites are facing mounting pressures that exceed their absorptive capacities, at a time when access to humanitarian aid remains a major challenge. Due to the deteriorating security situation, damaged roads, communications outages, and movement restrictions, especially along the western coast and between Taiz, Al-Turbah, and Aden.

She added that the damage to the port of Mokha increased restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers and logistical operations.

UNHCR said that it is leading the joint response in the areas of protection, shelter, coordination, and site management, and is working with its partners to provide aid despite the difficult security conditions. It has also activated its emergency response capabilities, focusing on protection services, shelter, relief materials, and financial aid.

Pressure in Djibouti

In Djibouti, Sandrine Desamours, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that those coming from Yemen arrive after arduous sea journeys, and that many of them are exhausted and psychologically affected and carry only little of what they were able to take with them.

She warned that the humanitarian response is facing great pressure, noting the need for more support before more families arrive and the needs exceed the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond.

She said that the arrivals are searching for international protection, calling for receiving them and providing them with assistance, and praising Djibouti for hosting refugees for years and for keeping its borders open to those fleeing conflicts.

She explained that Djiboutian families receive Yemeni refugees and share their limited resources with them, “at a time when the humanitarian response is facing a severe funding crisis.” She added, "The camp can only accommodate about 5,000 additional refugees, while the concerned authorities are preparing to receive more than 10,000 people."

Children and teenagers represent a large percentage of arrivals, according to the UN official, who pointed out that she is working with the Djiboutian government to integrate them into existing schools, “despite them already suffering from overcrowding.”

The repercussions of the escalation are not limited to the humanitarian aspect; The UN official raised concerns about the impact of continued unrest on the movement of aid and trade through Bab al-Mandab, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

She said that the continued insecurity in this vital sea corridor may affect the movement of humanitarian and commercial aid shipments heading to Yemen, Sudan and other emergency areas in the region and beyond.

She added that any additional deterioration may prompt “the rerouting of shipments through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding between 25 and 30 days to the duration of flights, raising transportation costs and delaying the arrival of relief supplies.”

Aden is mobilizing

In Aden, the local authority formed a humanitarian cell to follow up on the repercussions of displacement resulting from the Houthi escalation, and to respond to the escalating needs of families coming from Taiz Governorate and the western coast.

The decision of Abdul Rahman Sheikh, Minister of State and Governor of Aden, stipulated that the cell be headed by Muhammad Al-Sufi, director of the government unit responsible for managing camps for displaced people in the governorate.

The decision specified the cell’s tasks as field visits to camps and sites where displaced people are located, monitoring the conditions of families fleeing the recent military escalation, determining their needs for necessary living, shelter and relief supplies, and working to provide them according to available capabilities.

The decision also requested that an urgent report be submitted to the governor that includes needs and aid that cannot be provided locally, in preparation for submitting it to the Presidential Command Council, the Prime Minister, and the Arab Coalition, and to discuss ways to provide the necessary support for the displaced.

The decision obligated the cell to submit daily reports on its work, developments in the humanitarian situation in displacement sites, and the required needs, in addition to coordinating response efforts with local and international humanitarian agencies and organizations.