The US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, visited Port Sudan on Monday, where he held what he described as “fruitful” meetings with Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, his deputy Malik Agar, civil society leaders, and United Nations humanitarian team officials.
His visit yesterday came as Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities in the country. Perriello was supposed to arrive in Port Sudan on Sunday but was delayed by a day due to “logistical problems,” according to the Sudan News Agency.
Perriello reportedly reaffirmed United States support for an immediate cessation of war and an end to the atrocities committed against the Sudanese people to El Burhan, commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces and chairman of the Sovereignty Council, and Agar, deputy chair of the council, head of the Sudanese National Forces Coordination political coalition, and commander of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North Blue Nile faction.
Emergency aid
The US envoy expressed his appreciation for the recent steps taken by the Sudanese government to improve the movement of emergency relief and aid to 25 million people facing the risk of famine and severe hunger in Sudan.
“As the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Sudan, we will work around the clock to ensure that food, water and medicine reach all 18 states, as well as refugees,” he said. Early October, the US lifted certain restrictions on Sudan, allowing the country to access US development aid and benefit from the United States Agency for International Development Global Health Programme.
Perriello also commended the expansion of humanitarian access to more areas in Sudan. October 22, Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim seemed to soften his stance regarding closing the Adré border crossing between Sudan and Chad, following a heated exchange with US officials. Wednesday, the council announced that it would “extend the use” of the border crossing.
Increasing the amount of food and medical aid passing through Port Sudan and Adré, expanding emergency air flights to isolated areas, and civilian governance were also reportedly discussed. Perriello stressed that “the only way to end the suffering is to end the war and give the Sudanese people the right to determine their destiny and future.”
Further meetings
In meetings with civil society representatives and UN humanitarian team officials, Perriello heard their demands for an end to the atrocities committed against Sudanese women and the protection of civilians. “We share the urgent desire of civil society to end the war, stop the abuses against civilians, and ensure a unified, democratic, and peaceful Sudan,” Perriello said.
The US envoy’s visit is part of a tour that includes Djibouti and Italy, where he will meet with officials from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), government officials, and non-governmental organisations to discuss the humanitarian and political crisis in Sudan.
Several international efforts, including US-mediated talks in Geneva, to ease tensions and maintain steady humanitarian access to millions of Sudanese suffering from starvation, disease and displacement have so far been unsuccessful and the war has continued to escalate.
Some observers reportedly view this visit as broadly ceremonial, due to the envoy’s imminent departure from his post as the main US mediator since the war broke out on April 15, 2023.
“I don’t think that this visit will accomplish anything significant. The situation in Sudan is too complicated to be solved with one round of diplomatic meetings. The intensity of the war is increasing in several Sudanese provinces,” Sudanese writer and political analyst Fayez El Sheikh El Salek told The National this week.
US-Sudan relationship
Throughout his term, Perriello has maintained a distance from Sudan’s de facto government, which has repeatedly accused him of being biased in favour of the RSF’s position in the war.
Previously, Perriello has been very critical of the Sovereignty Council’s handling of aid. Perriello blamed Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission for placing bureaucratic obstacles in the way of relief convoys in a post on X on October 21.
October 30, in a post on X, he claimed that the government “only allowed 10 per cent of humanitarian supplies in Port Sudan to reach the people in desperate need of food and medicine. 90 per cent of the emergency relief has been blocked or delayed by the authorities in Port Sudan”. The post was discredited by Sudanese activists.
While the United Nations and aid agencies rely on the crossing to deliver aid, international reports claim it is also used to smuggle weapons to the RSF.
In an interview with Radio Dabanga in September, Mira Nasser, the Sudan Communications and Media Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, said that “there are limits to what assistance can achieve without real peace and security.” She highlighted that developments such as the reopening of Sudan’s Adré border present an opportunity to deliver aid, however, an immediate ceasefire is essential to enable humanitarian relief organisations to reach those affected by the war.
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Source: dabangasudan
