WASHINGTON – Within hours of the outbreak of new clashes between Sudanese and South Sudanese forces along the nations’ border, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a sense-of-the Senate resolution demanding the government of Sudan allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Blue Nile and South Kordofan states where hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation. U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, introduced the resolution earlier this month with Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
“As the devastating impact of ongoing conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile continues to unfold before our eyes, more than 250,000 people in this region will face emergency food shortages in the next three months unless aid is allowed to reach them,” Senator Coons said. “I am disappointed that renewed border clashes led President Bashir to cancel next week’s summit in Juba, and encourage both sides to immediately return to negotiations. This is the best way to avoid further deterioration of a humanitarian crisis in the border regions, fulfill the aspirations of South Sudan as an independent nation, and chart a new path forward for Sudan.
“It is critical that Congress and the international community speak with one voice imploring Khartoum to allow access for desperately-needed humanitarian assistance, and I applaud the Committee for passing this resolution. I hope the measure will see swift action on the floor and am glad it has strong bipartisan support.”
Conflict between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) has been ongoing since 2011 in two of Sudan’s border states. The Sudanese government has refused repeated requests by the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, the League of Arab States, non-governmental organizations, and others to allow humanitarian access to the conflict areas.
The resolution urges the government of Sudan to allow “immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to South Kordofan, Blue Nile and all other conflict-affected areas of Sudan,” and implores Sudan and the SPLM-N to cease hostilities and negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict. The resolution also urges the government of Sudan and the SPLM-N to allow civilians to leave the region voluntarily, and offers support for ongoing efforts by the Obama Administration and international partners to facilitate humanitarian access to affected areas and encourage a return to negotiations.
A PDF of the resolution can be found here:
http://coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-14-sudan-resolution.pdf
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