Last week, the Head of UN Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, told the Security Council that the situation in Darfur has changed “radically for the better” and, as the needs of the people have changed, “the international community must adapt its support accordingly.”
Reactions to this declaration did not take long, starting with Eric Reeves. Commenting the news published on Sudan Tribune: UN, AU propose closure of UNAMID sites in Darfur except for Jebel Marra, Reeves writes on his website:
Lacroix in fact ignores a great deal about these “current realities,” particularly the realities of massive, continuing displacement, assaults on non-Arab/African villages and civilians, failure to provide restitution of violently expropriated farmlands, or any prospect of justice for those who have suffered so much over the past fifteen years
Human Rights Watch also responded to the UN’s plan to cut to Darfur Mission Risk Rights Protection:
The review process, which began in 2014 amid Sudan’s insistence that the UN needed an exit plan, led to significant cuts to the mission in 2017, with the closure of 11 team sites and the addition of a presence in Golo in Jebel Marra. Human Rights Watch warned at the time that the downsizing reflected a “false narrative about Darfur’s war ending” and that any reductions should leave flexibility for the mission to respond to evolving threats and to strengthen the mission’s human rights monitoring and reporting capacities.
Sudan has obstructed the work of the UNAMID human rights staff by delaying visas, denying access and preventing staff recruitment. Instead of accepting these limits, the Security Council should bolster the section’s work and make its responsibility to report on violations across the region more explicit. Even if their physical access is limited by the drawdown, UNAMID human rights officers could still do remote research, which the mission could report publicly, Human Rights Watch said.
Lacroix concluded his statement saying: “We believe that, working together, this new approach can help establish a future of UN and AU support to Darfur that will help to improve the lives of the Darfuri people now and in the long-term“.
It’s hard to believe in these ‘shifting realities‘. As far as we know, the war in Darfur has not ended, and UNAMID’s mission is far from being over, like Eric Reeves points out.
