Efforts to open humanitarian access for millions of Sudanese in desperate need of aid continue, but ceasefire talks remain stalled as the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) continues to refuse to send a delegation to U.S.-sponsored peace talks, U.S. officials said.
U.S. special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello told reporters at a briefing in Geneva Monday that given the urgency of the Sudan crisis, delegations from the U.N., African Union, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had been working “through the night” on issues related to humanitarian assistance and protecting civilians.
Perriello said that was paying off as the Sudanese military had agreed to open the Adre border post with Chad to allow food and other aid supplies into the conflict-torn Darfur region.
“Together with many diplomatic and humanitarian colleagues around the world, we are now ready to welcome the opening of Adre with 100 trucks ready to go as early as tomorrow for something that often takes weeks, even months,” he said. “And that means we can see food and medicine reaching areas like Zamzam camp, where more than 400,000 people are facing hunger and food shortages.”
Although only the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were present at the peace talks, Perriello said active negotiations had been underway with both warring parties since talks began on August 14.
“We have been working virtually by phone with the (Sudan) military to accelerate progress that is saving Sudanese lives,” he said, adding that “if the military delegation was here, I guarantee we would produce more results for the Sudanese people on humanitarian access and civilian protection than we could on the phone.”
He said the talks prioritized opening humanitarian corridors on three roads – the Adre border crossing, the Dabar Road and the opening of the Sennar crossing and Sennar State. This, he said, “together will ensure that 20 million people who are currently largely or completely cut off from food and medicine will be able to receive that assistance.” (uh)
