The 2020s have been a decade ripe with conflict — from Gaza to Ukraine, footage of destruction previously unthinkable in a 21st-century conflict has been circulated and viewed by millions. While this increased awareness is largely positive, it has meant that other conflicts have slipped by the news cycle, going unnoticed.

One of the more horrific and ongoing, but often ignored, conflicts is occurring in one of Africa’s most war-torn countries: Sudan. While the extent of the violence in Sudan is evident, the international community refuses to act meaningfully to end the conflict.

Unfortunately, the international community has a history of ignoring crimes against humanity in Africa, for example, the infamous Rwandan genocide. In 1994, the country’s Hutu majority conducted a bloody massacre of the Tutsi minority, executing as many as one million people in a government-backed ethnic cleansing. Despite the multitude of prior warnings of imminent ethnic cleansing, the international community not only refused to act but also effectively ignored the conflict altogether.

Despite clear evidence of the slaughter, global powers failed to take prompt action. In fact, previously evacuated United Nations troops and international aid workers only returned after the conflict had ceased. Perhaps this decision was driven by a well-founded wariness of foreign intervention, or maybe many world leaders have simply written off Africa as a continent embroiled in conflict due to the legacy of colonialism and exploitation, a trend continuing today.

The current conflict in Sudan is characterized by a battle between the Sudanese Army and a militia known as the Rapid Support Forces. These two factions came to control the country after they deposed President Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled since a coup in 1989, in 2019. However, both sides disagreed on integrating the RSF into the regular Sudanese army. Eventually, this materialized into outright fighting, leading to a bloody battle in Khartoum, the capital, soon to be followed by a full-blown civil war.

Now, the international community is recycling the same failed methods that have allowed war criminals to run rampant on the African continent. The same noninterventionist methods are failing Sudan just as they failed Rwanda and many other African states in past decades. If the world once again turns a blind eye to an ongoing genocide in Africa, it will only serve to embolden future malicious actors who seek to violate international law.

A particularly troubling development in this conflict occurred recently, when the city of El Fasher fell to the RSF after a prolonged siege. As the RSF flooded into the city, what followed was a killing spree so horrific that the blood of murdered civilians was visible from space. Video footage has been released of RSF militants bragging about the civilians they executed in the city and satellite evidence showed objects speculated to be dead bodies littering the streets of the city.

The RSF is also supported by a wide umbrella of foreign forces, only fueling its power in Sudan. The United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country considered a close U.S. ally, has played an especially large role in boosting the RSF’s ability to wage war. Despite presenting itself as a champion of international aid, the UAE has been using its humanitarian activities as a cover to provide military support to the RSF.

Reporting by the New York Times revealed that Emirati medical facilities operated by the nation’s Red Crescent— its equivalent to the Red Cross — were used to cover for drone bases that executed strikes in the country. This misuse of humanitarian symbols is a textbook example of a war crime and shows the depraved means that the RSF’s backers are willing to utilize in the effort to win the war.

Despite these crimes, the U.S. government has continued to support the UAE since the advent of the war with billions of dollars in weapons sales. Instead of leveraging the United States’ position as a major supplier to the UAE, both the Biden and Trump administrations have seemed content to let the Emirati government intervene on behalf of the RSF unimpeded, casting serious doubt on the United States’ commitment to international law.

Should the RSF continue to advance in Sudan, the scale of its crimes will likely only expand. While the international community has already failed the people of Sudan and the Darfur region enormously, there is still time to save thousands, if not millions, of innocent lives.

The international community should aim to punish the RSF and their backers — whether through economic sanctions or arms embargoes — to prevent the ongoing genocide in Sudan or risk further damaging its already lackluster credibility with regards to the enforcement of international law and human rights.

James Heins is a junior majoring in political science.

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.