Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Ihab Awad
Addressing the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) session on Sudan on Thursday, Ambassador Awad noted that a neighbouhing country is training and arming the RSF militias out of camps in eastern Sudan that host tens of thousands of displaced persons fleeing the horrors of war in the west of the country.
The training camps, he added, enable the RSF to continue their brutal war on humanity, peaceful and unarmed Sudanese people, and on girls, women, and children, as well as to open a new front in the war in eastern Sudan, as if the crimes and atrocities "alraedy committed by the RSF militias had not satisfied their savage instinct in targeting civilians."
During the session, Awad stressed the importance of the UNSC assuming its responsibilities in holding those involved accountable for the suffering of the Sudanese people, which continues to worsen as the war enters its third year.
The Egyptian diplomat reaffirmed Cairo’s firm principles on the Sudanese crisis, emphasizing the red lines it has set and will not tolerate being crossed, including preserving Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity, preventing the exploitation of its resources, safeguarding its national institutions and preventing any infringement upon them.
He also stressed Egypt’s categorical rejection of the secession of any part of Sudan’s territory or the establishment or recognition, in any form, of parallel entities, reaffirming Cairo’s full and unconditional support for Sudan and its readiness to exert every effort to restore its stability and enable it to emerge from its ordeal strong and resilient.
During the session, Awad pointed to Egypt’s efforts to achieve peace in Sudan, including hosting the Fifth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for Sudan in January, ongoing work to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance to support Sudanese affected by the conflict, receiving large numbers of Sudanese.
He also highlighted Egypt’s participation in several tracks related to Sudan, including the Quad Mechanism, comprising the US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, aimed at reaching a comprehensive humanitarian truce leading to a permanent ceasefire across Sudan, as well as establishing safe humanitarian corridors to ensure security and protection for civilians.
Awad noted that the mechanism is currently engaged in consultations among its members, in coordination with the UN, to agree on the framework and details of a humanitarian truce deal, expressing hope to move forward with implementing the truce once a shared vision on is reached, thereby helping to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.
He emphasized the importance of the UN’s role in supporting the achievement and implementation of the humanitarian truce through intensified and targeted humanitarian operations in areas most affected by humanitarian suffering.
The Egyptian diplomat referred to the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Sudan in January, which helped shed light on the gravity of violations committed by the RSF and the unprecedented deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Kordofan and Darfur regions.
These violations, Awad said, were clearly evident during the UN official’s visit to the displacement camps in the city of El-Fasher and his listening to testimonies regarding practices of sexual violence by the RSF, as well as his confirmation that the use of sexual violence as a weapon constitutes a war crime.
The Egyptian diplomat expressed Cairo’s welcome of the ongoing cooperation between the Sudanese government and the High Commissioner’s office (OHCHR), which reflects the Sudanese government’s commitment to serious cooperation with it as well as with the UN Human Rights Council.
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