The United Nations political mission in Sudan, UNITAMS, will finish on Sunday.
A United Nations political mission in war-racked Sudan will finish on Sunday after the UN Security Council voted to close it down following a request from Sudanese authorities final month.
Fourteen of the council’s 15 members adopted Friday’s decision to finish the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), whereas Russia abstained.
Starting Monday, a three-month transition interval will start to permit for the departure of UNITAMS personnel and the switch of its duties to different UN companies “where appropriate and to the extent feasible”.
While they voted in favour of the decision, UN ambassadors from the United States and United Kingdom expressed dismay over the choice.
“Let me be clear, the United Kingdom would not have chosen to close UNITAMS at this moment,” mentioned Britain’s deputy UN envoy James Kariuki, whose nation drafted the decision.
US envoy Robert Wood mentioned: “We are gravely concerned that a reduced international presence in Sudan will only serve to embolden the perpetrators of atrocities with dire consequences for civilians.”
In the textual content, the council expressed “alarm at the continued violence and humanitarian situation, in particular violations of international humanitarian law and grave human rights violations and abuses” in Sudan.
War erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after weeks of rising pressure between the 2 sides over a plan to combine forces as a part of a transition from army rule to democracy.
Six million folks have since been pressured from their houses and 25 million want humanitarian assist, the UN says.
‘Disappointing’
“We reiterate that the Sudanese authorities remain responsible for the safety and security of UNITAMS staff and assets during this transition and call for their full cooperation in allowing an orderly withdrawal,” Britain’s Kariuki instructed the council.
The UN mission in Sudan employs 245 folks, together with 88 in Port Sudan, in addition to others in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric mentioned final month.
UNITAMS was put in place in 2020 to assist help a democratic transition in Sudan following the autumn the earlier yr of President Omar al-Bashir.
But in October 2021, the troublesome path to civilian authorities was reduce quick, when military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan assumed full powers in a coup.
On April 15, earlier than a deal on resuming the transition to democracy could possibly be signed, combating erupted between the Sudanese military led by al-Burhan and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.
A couple of weeks later, al-Burhan demanded that UNITAMS chief Volker Perthes be sacked, inserting blame for the violence on his shoulders. The diplomat in the end stepped down in September, and has not been changed.
Last month, saying the mission had been “disappointing”, the federal government in Khartoum demanded its rapid finish, leaving the UNSC with nearly no alternative however to withdraw, because the UN should function with the host nation’s consent.
“We affirm the government’s readiness to continue constructive engagement with the UN by strengthening cooperation with a country team,” Dafallah Alhaj, an envoy to Sudan’s al-Burhan, instructed the council on Friday. He mentioned the supply of humanitarian support was a high precedence.
UN officers mentioned the world physique will preserve making an attempt to assist the Sudanese folks with the persevering with presence of varied humanitarian companies. “What is clear and what should be clear to everyone is that the United Nations is not leaving Sudan,” Dujarric instructed reporters on Thursday.
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