African Union calls on member nations and the global community ‘not to recognize any government or parallel body’
The African Union declares that the declaration of a parallel administration in conflict-battered Sudan risks cutting the country, already shattered by close to two years of violence, from its support.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been engaged in a ferocious fight with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, in a conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 12 million individuals.
The conflict, which began as a dispute over integrating the RSF into the military, has shattered the country, with the army now ruling over eastern and northern Sudan and the RSF holding sway in western Darfur and much of the south.
The RSF and its partners in December signed a “founding charter” of a splinter government, a further indication of the country’s fragmentation.
Signers of the document seek to establish a “government of peace and unity” in areas held by the rebels, AFP news agency reported. The African Union (AU) on Wednesday warned that the action risked “a huge risk of partitioning of the country.”.
It called upon all its member states and the international community, “not to recognize any government or parallel structure intended to divide … the Republic of Sudan or its institutions”. In a statement, it stated the AU “does not recognize the so-called government or parallel structure in the Republic of Sudan”.
On Tuesday, the European Union also reaffirmed its commitment towards the “unity and territorial integrity of Sudan”. This comes after the United Nations Security Council warning last week where they stated they have “grave concerns” with regards to the “founding charter”, citing that it will make an “already dire humanitarian situation” worse.
The conflict in Sudan has destabilized the poor country. UN rights chief Volker Turk warned in February that Sudan was “staring into the abyss” and that the nation was experiencing the “largest displacement crisis in the world”, with millions of individuals displaced since the conflict erupted. In addition, close to 25 million individuals are experiencing extreme food insecurity, 600,000 of whom are “on the verge of starvation”, the UN recently alerted.
