Sudan Declares UN Envoy 'Persona non Grata'

Facts

• Sudan announced late Thursday that the UN envoy and key mediator in the country's conflict, Volker Perthes, is no longer allowed within its borders, declaring him "persona non grata," ahead of a new, US-Saudi brokered 24-hour truce that began on Saturday morning.¹
• The German diplomat, who was in Ethiopia on Thursday for diplomatic talks, has been accused by Sudan's top military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, of fueling the war that broke out in mid-April between his troops and General Mohamed Dagalo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).²
• Two weeks ago, Burhan sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres urging Perthes to be removed on allegations that the envoy has disrespected the country's national sovereignty and presented a misleading picture of consensus in his reports.³
• Perthes has led mediation in Sudan since 2021, first during the country's failed transition to democracy and then as relations between the military and the RSF worsened. According to Berlin, he will continue to do his job from Kenya.⁴
• The UN Security Council voted last week to extend the mandate of its Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) for just six months, rather than the typical one-year renewal since it was created in June 2020.⁵
• According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, at least 1.8K people have been killed in the conflict so far. The UN estimates that 1.2M have been displaced, roughly one-third of them fleeing abroad, as well as that 25M Sudanese are now in need of aid.⁶

Sources: ¹FOX News, ²Africa News, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴PBS NewsHour, ⁵DW, and ⁶Barrons.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Middle East Eye. Not only has Perthes failed to achieve the integration of the RSF into the military — one of the primary negotiation goals of the last two years — but he has somehow figured out a way to disappoint the army, civilian political actors, resistance committee activists, and the Sudanese people simultaneously. Perthes' role as chief UN diplomat has made everyone worse off.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by France 24. This declaration is a slap in the face to the entire UN mission, which has sought only the best outcome for all Sudanese people after the two rival Sudanese generals dragged the country into a war in mid-April. Additionally, Khartoum has violated its obligations under the UN charter, as the doctrine of "persona non grata" does not apply to UN personnel.

Predictions