UN Security Council Votes to Drawdown Darfur Peacekeeping Operation, Experts Say Decision “Flawed”

Washington, DC, June 29, 2017 — Today the U.N. Security Council voted to decimate the capacity of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) based on a strategic review conducted by the United Nations. Enough Project experts are available for comment and analysis.

Omer Ismail, Senior Policy Advisor at the Enough Project, said: “The UNAMID review is based on a fundamentally flawed analysis of the situation in Darfur, an analysis undermined by the violence that took place shortly after the report was submitted to the Security Council. While it’s hard to predict the immediate effect, these cuts would have on civilian protection, we know the risk of conflict is high in many of the areas where bases are to be closed and military contingents are to be withdrawn. The withdrawal of these UNAMID military forces and the closure of bases will make several key areas unsafe for humanitarian operations, likely leading to closures of programs upon which tens of thousands of conflict-affected people rely.”

This decision comes at a time when the Trump administration faces a July 12 deadline to make a decision on whether to terminate the longstanding comprehensive sanctions on Sudan, a process that began during the last days of the Obama administration.

Read Enough Project’s Recent Reports on Sudan:

• Sudan’s Deep State: How Insiders Violently Privatized Sudan’s Wealth, and How to Respond (by Enough Team)(April 2017)
• Border Control from Hell: How the EU’s migration partnership legitimizes Sudan’s “militia state” (by Suliman Baldo)(April 2017)
• Khartoum’s Economic Achilles’ Heel: The intersection of war, profit, and greed (by Suliman Baldo)(August 2016)

For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, +1 310 717 0606, [email protected].

About THE ENOUGH PROJECT: The Enough Project supports peace and an end to mass atrocities in Africa’s deadliest conflict zones. Together with its investigative initiative The Sentry, Enough counters armed groups, violent kleptocratic regimes, and their commercial partners that are sustained and enriched by corruption, criminal activity, and the trafficking of natural resources. By helping to create consequences for the major perpetrators and facilitators of atrocities and corruption, Enough seeks to build leverage in support of peace and good governance. Enough conducts research in conflict zones, engages governments and the private sector on potential policy solutions, and mobilizes public campaigns focused on peace, human rights, and breaking the links between war and illicit profit. Learn more – and join us – at www.EnoughProject.org.