The armed conflict in Sudan, which started almost a month ago, quickly made the headlines because of the intensity of the clashes and the total failure to respect humanitarian law. Opposing two generals – the Sudanese Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Burhan, and his former ally, General Dagalo, better known as Hemdeti, leader of the Rapid Support Force, a kind of praetorian guard paramilitary created by the deposed president, Omar el-Béchir – the conflict revolves around the conditions for the reintegration of armed groups into the security apparatus of the Sudanese state.
In the first days of the clashes, the death of three officials of the World Food Program, the irruption of armed elements in the residence of the representative of the European Union and the arrest of the convoy of the ambassador of the United States quickly sent a wake-up call to Western capitals, which rushed to evacuate their diplomatic personnel. While calls for a ceasefire and exhortations to protect civilians have multiplied, they have remained unanswered.
In this context, there is strong reason to fear that the Western countries, occupied by the war in Ukraine, will not be involved or little involved in the efforts to resolve the conflict. Yet the statement by Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, on the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, that multilateralism and diplomacy are essential for peace in the world, applies in every way to the crisis that Sudan is going through today.
Why should Canada and Western countries get involved in resolving this conflict? The reasons are as numerous as they are compelling.
First, on the security front, to let this conflict drag on is to risk a regional conflagration. Sudan shares borders with several countries already weakened by violence, including South Sudan, Libya, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia. Western governments have invested heavily in many of these countries to put them on a path to conflict resolution. Turning your back on Sudan would risk seeing these political, material and financial investments go up in smoke.
Small steps towards democracy
On the diplomatic level, in this region marked by a history of authoritarian governance, small steps towards democracy recently foreshadowed a possible change of direction that deserved to be supported. One can only remember the courage shown by Sudanese men and women in taking to the streets in 2019 to demand the removal of President Omar al-Bashir, whom even an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court had failed to dislodge from power.
In neighboring Chad, the death of President Idriss Déby in 2021 had triggered a transition process under the aegis of the military which was to lead to an “inclusive” national dialogue. If the results of the dialogue were disappointing, observers nevertheless agree that simply holding it should encourage diplomacy to offer continuous support to the actors who bring about change in order to avoid a setback. However, the risk of such a decline has increased significantly since the beginning of the crisis in Sudan.
PHOTO ZOHRA BENSEMRA, REUTERS
Sudanese refugee camp, Koufroun, Chad
Finally, on the humanitarian level, while the region is facing recurring challenges, humanitarian organizations already called last November for urgent action to help vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa to cope with the dramatic consequences of the most severe and long drought in recent history. Even before the start of the conflict in Sudan, nearly 21 million people were in a situation of high food insecurity while response programs were only nearly 50% funded. The massive displacement of Sudanese, refugees or internally displaced persons, can only aggravate an already extremely serious situation.
At a time when Western countries are demonstrating a constant commitment to the Ukrainian government and people, it is important for these same countries not to shirk their responsibilities in Sudan.
The Sudanese crisis is a key moment in relations between Western and African countries. It is also a key moment for the future of multilateralism that Canada has helped build through the United Nations system.
Our response to the Sudanese crisis could seal the fate of multilateralism as we know it. Depending on whether we get involved in the resolution of the crisis or not, we will send signals that will be interpreted by the populations of all the affected countries, from Kenya to Egypt.
The West, recently accused by the populations of certain African countries of only pursuing its own interests, will it be able to rise to the occasion?