African Union warns of huge risk of partition in Sudan

ADDIS ABABA: The African Union on Wednesday said the announcement of a parallel government in war-torn Sudan risked cleaving the country, already ravaged by nearly two years of unrest.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict with Sudan’s army (SAF) since April 2023 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than 12 million people.

The war, which was initially sparked by disagreements over the integration of the RSF into the army, has torn the country apart, with the military now controlling eastern and northern Sudan and the RSF dominating almost all of western Darfur and parts of the south.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes.

The RSF and its allies signed a “founding charter” of a parallel government in Nairobi last month.

On Wednesday the AU condemned the move and “warned that such action carries a huge risk of partitioning of the country.”

The signatories to the document, seen by AFP, intend to create a “government of peace and unity” in rebel-controlled areas.

They have also pledged to “build a secular, democratic, decentralized state, based on freedom, equality and justice, without cultural, ethnic, religious or regional bias.”

In early March, the RSF and its allies signed, again in Nairobi, a “Transitional Constitution.”

The AU called on all of its member states, as well as the international community, “not to recognize any government or parallel entity aimed at partitioning and governing part of the territory of the Republic of Sudan or its institutions.”

In a statement, it said the organization “does not recognize the so-called government or parallel entity in the Republic of Sudan.”

On Tuesday, the European Union also reiterated its commitment to the “unity and territorial integrity of Sudan.”

“Plans for parallel ‘government’ by the Rapid Support Forces risk the partition of the country and jeopardize the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people for an inclusive Sudanese-owned process that leads to the restoration of civilian rule,” it said in a statement.

It follows a warning from the UN Security Council last week that expressed “grave concerns” over the signing, adding it could worsen an already dire humanitarian situation.”

The conflict has up-ended the nation, with the UN describing the situation as an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis on the African continent.”

Parts of the country have already descended into famine, with another eight million people on the brink of mass starvation.

Nationwide, nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity.