WASHINGTON – Four senators will today introduce a sense-of-the-Senate resolution demanding the government of Sudan allow immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions where hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation. The bipartisan resolution was led by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
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. According to the Famine Early Warning Network 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. 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 to be introduced Wednesday 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.
“We are on the brink of another major humanitarian crisis in Sudan,” Senator Coons said. “As the devastating impact of ongoing conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile continues to unfold before our eyes, the Sudanese government is denying the international community the ability to provide desperately-needed humanitarian aid and supplies. If the Sudanese government does not back down, innocent men, women and children will starve to death. If they allow humanitarian access to the conflict regions, we can save lives.” Senator Coons is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
“It is crucial that humanitarian aid is allowed into these devastated areas and that the Government of Sudan and SPLM-N end hostilities immediately,” Senator Isakson said. “Once again, civilians are suffering the overwhelming burden of violence in Sudan, and I join my colleagues in calling for a sustained effort toward achieving a lasting peace in the region.” Senator Isakson is ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
“Despite overwhelming calls for action, the Sudanese government continues to brutalize people in the border region and thumb its nose at the international community,” Senator Durbin said. “Congress needs to do all that it can to put a stop the violence and work to clear a path for humanitarian aid to reach those in desperate need. Millions of people have waited far too long for action.” Senator Durbin is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
“The longer the violence continues in Sudan, the harder it will be to move forward toward lasting peace,” Senator Wicker said. “I urge my colleagues and the international community to keep the dignity of human life at the forefront of our conversations about Sudan and South Sudan. The promise of freedom must be put into practice. The call for hostilities to end and for responsible dialogue to resume is even more urgent now.”
A PDF of the resolution can be found here:
http://www.coons.senate.gov/media/2012-03-14-sudan-resolution.pdf
The text of the resolution is below:
Whereas conflict between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) has been ongoing since June 2011 in Sudan’s border state of South Kordofan and since September 2011 in the border state of Blue Nile resulting in a humanitarian crisis;
Whereas the Government of Sudan has refused repeated requests by the U.S. government, the United Nations, the African Union, the League of Arab States, non-governmental organizations, and others to allow humanitarian access to the conflict areas;
Whereas the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding on non-aggression and cooperation in Addis Ababa on February 12, 2012, agreeing to respect each other’s sovereignty and refrain from launching any attack against the other, including bombardment;
Whereas the United Nations estimates that more than 130,000 refugees have fled South Kordofan and Blue Nile for South Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere since June 2011, and hundreds of thousands more have been internally displaced or severely affected by conflict;
Whereas the Government of Sudan bombed the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan on November 10, 2011;
Whereas both the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North have reportedly prevented some civilians from leaving Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan;
Whereas the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) estimated in March 2012 that conflict-affected areas of South Kordofan would deteriorate further in coming weeks to Phase 4 emergency levels of food insecurity (one step before being classified as a famine), due mainly to conflict and government policies that have limited cultivation, displaced the population, restricted trade, and refused access for international humanitarian assistance;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council issued a statement on February 14, 2012 expressing deep and growing alarm with the rising levels of malnutrition and food insecurity in some areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, calling on the Government of Sudan to allow immediate access to United Nations personnel, and urging the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities and return to talks to address the issues that have fueled the current conflict;
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees appealed urgently to donors in February 2012 for $145 million to assist refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile;
Whereas the White House released a statement in June 2011 calling on the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to agree immediately to a ceasefire, end restrictions on humanitarian access and UN movements, and agree on security arrangements for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States through direct, high-level negotiations as opposed to the use of force;
Whereas the White House released a statement on February 2, 2012, strongly condemning the bombing by the Sudanese Armed Forces of civilian populations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan which stated that aerial attacks on civilian targets are unjustified, unacceptable, and a violation of international law and compound the ongoing crisis in these areas;
Whereas neither South Kordofan nor Blue Nile were able to complete the popular consultation process with the GOS as stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) before violence broke out;
Whereas, despite the independence of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, many key issues between Sudan and South Sudan remain unresolved, including transit fees for oil pipeline use, citizenship, the status of Abyei, and border demarcation;
Whereas the goal of democratic governance reform in Sudan as envisioned in the CPA has not taken place;
Whereas in addition to the growing conflict induced humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sudan’s southern border-states, the humanitarian crisis and ongoing insecurity in Darfur continues; and
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 4 million Sudanese remain internally displaced, and in 2011, though for the first time since the Darfur conflict began, more Darfuris voluntarily returned to their homes (87,000) than were newly displaced (70,000), and additional tens of thousands are being displaced in southern Sudan;
Resolved, that the United States Senate:
Welcomes the memorandum of understanding on non-aggression and cooperation signed between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan in Addis Ababa on February 12, 2012;
Calls on the Government of Sudan and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North to reach a mutually beneficial political agreement;
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;
Encourages the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North to declare a cessation of hostilities to allow food and essential supplies to reach affected civilians;
Implores the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to refrain from any support of proxy forces;
Urges the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North to allow civilians to leave the two states voluntarily and seek refuge in more secure areas; and
Supports the Administration’s current efforts, working with partners in the international community, to facilitate humanitarian access to affected areas, encourage all relevant parties to return to the negotiation table, and assist them in reaching agreements associated with the conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, to mitigate violence in the interim, and to allow full humanitarian access.
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