Sudan Asks UN to End Political Mission Immediately

Facts

• Sudan’s government has called on the United Nations (UN) to end its political mission in the country with immediate effect in a letter penned to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, accusing the mission of ineffectiveness.¹
• In the document, Sudan's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Sadeq requests the UN to 'immediately terminate' the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS). However, the Sudanese government remains committed to constructive cooperation with the Security Council and the UN Secretariat, the letter continues.²
• The UN mission's performance in implementing its objectives 'was disappointing,' the letter claims, accusing the UN of failing to deliver on its mandate to assist the Sudanese transitional government following the Sudanese revolution that deposed long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in 2018.³
• Also on Thursday, the UN announced that UN chief Guterres commissioned a review of UNITAMS. UN diplomat Ian Martin was tasked with providing the Security Council with options for adapting the mandate to the realities of the conflict that caused a severe humanitarian crisis in Sudan.⁴
• Meanwhile, the UN raised concerns that the conflict was spreading to new regions of Sudan and warned of an increasing 'humanitarian calamity.' On April 15 fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under the command of army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglomore.⁵
• In recent weeks, the RSF made military progress in Darfur – taking control of the Sudanese army bases in Nyala, the capital of the South Darfur state, and other key areas. According to estimates by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, at least 9K people have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict, which is largely thought to be a low estimate.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²All Africa, ³DW, ⁴UN News, ⁵Arab News and ⁶France 24.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Asharq Al-Awsat. The request for this UN mission to leave Sudan once again highlights the growing rift between the Sudanese government and the world body as violence escalates. Also in light of this development, an inclusive African-led approach based on the African Union's efforts to implement a comprehensive roadmap for peace needs to be established. African-led peace initiatives, with their unique understanding of the complexity of the crisis, play a critical role in supporting a Sudanese-owned process to restore peace and promote a democratic transition in Sudan.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by ISS Africa. The demand of the Sudanese interim government ties in with Khartoum's recent declaration of the UN special envoy as 'persona non grata.' Meanwhile, peace negotiations have so far failed to achieve a lasting ceasefire and African stakeholders such as the African Union lack resources and capacities with little leverage to exert pressure on the conflict parties. To avoid any further escalation, UNITAMS' mandate should therefore be reviewed and extended until next year, while African actors should push for greater influence within UNITAMS.