DARFUR ON THE EDGE

November 7, 2012

More trouble in Darfur has prompted the acting head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to urge the Government of Sudan to urgently launch an investigation into the violence.

The UN website reported the incident on its website today:

"UNAMID had received reports some days ago of an alleged attack on civilians that resulted in fatalities, an abduction of a civilian and widespread population displacement in Sigili, located in the Shawa area, about 40 kilometres southeast of El Fasher, the capital city of the west Sudanese state of North Darfur. The attack reportedly took place on Friday."

Despite the various peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfuri guerrillas after the worse of the Darfur Genocide between 2003 and 2010, the situation is still volatile. Much of the region had been operating as an independent sultanate for several centuries before it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. Many of the inhabitants, however, are non-Arab and these have age-old grievances against the Arab "elite".

UNAMID was established in July 2007 in order to protect civilians, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and assist with "an inclusive peace process in Darfur". This is all very welcome, but unless the government of Omar al-Bashir doubles its efforts to foster harmony, UNAMID will simply become more and more vulnerable in a festering scenario. President al-Bashir has, despite his indictment, shown that he can at times, make concessions and think creatively, as some of his negotiations regarding the creation of South Sudan has shown. Let him surprise us again. Established in July 2007, UNAMID has the protection of civilians as its core mandate. In addition, the Mission is tasked with facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and assisting with an inclusive peace process in Darfur, among other responsibilities.