Washington Proposes Expanding Darfur Arms Embargo to Cover All of Sudan

Washington today, Monday, proposed before the United Nations expanding the scope of the arms embargo imposed on Sudan’s Darfur region to cover the entire country, warning that the conflict in Sudan could spill over into the wider region.

The arms embargo on Darfur, which has been in place for more than two decades, is due to expire on September 12 unless a new decision is reached to extend it.

Expanding the arms embargo to cover all of Sudan would require a vote by the UN Security Council. However, Russia, which holds veto power on the Council, has warned against imposing new measures that could affect the Sudanese army.

During the meeting, U.S. presidential adviser for African and Arab affairs Massad Boulos said the Council must “take steps to curb the fueling of the conflict,” particularly as external support threatens to draw more regional actors and neighboring countries into the conflict in Sudan.

“That is why the United States is putting forward a strong proposal to expand the arms embargo to cover the entire territory of Sudan,” he added.

The proposal also calls for drones to be included under the arms embargo and for an increase in the number of experts monitoring implementation of the existing measures.

Boulos added that the proposal would also strengthen coordination between these monitors and other expert teams to identify violations of the arms embargo, as well as the asset freezes and travel bans previously imposed on parties to the conflict.

The war in Sudan has entered its fourth year, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions, amid the use of increasingly sophisticated weapons by the warring parties, including drones, which have inflicted heavy casualties on civilians.

The Sudanese army controls the central and eastern parts of the country, while the western Darfur region and parts of the south are controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Darfur, a vast region in western Sudan roughly the size of France, is among the areas hardest hit by the violence. Displacement camps there have been overrun, while repeated ethnic massacres have killed thousands of people.