KEY POINTS
- Sudan’s conflict has displaced millions and led to severe humanitarian needs.
- Guterres highlights ethnic violence and challenges in deploying UN peacekeeping.
- Aid access remains a pressing issue, with calls for secure border operations.
Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, has urged the Security Council to take action against the violence raging in Sudan.
Guterres said that the current situation makes it impossible for a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed effectively, despite the urgent need to protect people.
Civilian crisis amid escalating conflict
Serious ethnic bloodshed and displacement have resulted from the Sudanese crisis, which was initiated in April 2023 by a power struggle between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army.
Like the horrors in Darfur twenty years ago, Guterres called the situation “a nightmare of mass ethnic violence.” According to recent accounts, the RSF was responsible for some of the deadliest strikes, like as the one in El Gezira that killed 124 civilians.
With 11 million displaced and 3 million seeking asylum abroad, more than 25 million Sudanese, or half of the population, require humanitarian assistance.
According to Reuters, Guterres insisted that alternative safeguards must be investigated in spite of calls for a peacekeeping force, stating that “the conditions do not exist” for a successful UN deployment.
Aid challenges and border concerns
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed worry about limited humanitarian access, pointing to logistical difficulties as well as financial problems as the cause of Sudan’s famine crisis.
She demanded the maintenance of the Adre border crossing with Chad and more efficient aid routes. Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, Sudan’s UN ambassador, countered that allegations of illegal weapons and fighters entering Sudan through this route have made Adre a security danger.
Furthermore, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN Ambassador, backed Sudan’s position by insisting that the Sudanese government should be in charge of relief channels.
Commitment to protection without force
Guterres acknowledged the urgency of the situation but was hesitant to use direct military force, arguing that innovative strategies adapted to the complicated war in Sudan would improve civilian safety.
“Under current constraints, my focus is to find ways to mitigate violence without deploying a full UN peacekeeping force,” he said.
