(Ottawa) As the federal government belatedly imposed sanctions Monday against those it accuses of perpetuating Sudan’s year-long civil war, the country’s former ambassador to Ottawa said Canada can help to pave the way for peace.
“The world should be appalled by the unprecedented calamity occurring in Sudan,” Tarig Abusalih said.
A year ago, a long-running political feud between branches of Sudan’s military escalated into an armed conflict that prompted Western countries to evacuate their citizens and resulted in what the United Nations calls “the most great internal displacement crisis in the world.
The paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces is accused of trying to replicate the Darfur genocide, while the military, the Sudanese Armed Forces, has also been accused of brazen acts of violence.
Countries including the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Russia are accused of supplying money and weapons to the warring parties, with recent reports of the use of long-range drones from abroad in the conflict.
The Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights released a report Monday showing that a genocide is already underway, presenting documents of massacres, sexual violence and public executions carried out on an ethnic basis. .
A flurry of activity, then calm
Canada expressed serious concerns about the civil war from the outset.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Mr. Abusalih the day the fighting broke out, while they were both attending a community event near Toronto.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly traveled to Kenya to meet with regional leaders on ways Africans could help advance peace in Sudan, and Canada allocated humanitarian aid.
It was all part of what Mr. Abusalih called a flurry of activity in the early months of the war, as Global Affairs Canada constantly asked how Ottawa could support the Sudanese people and try to end the conflict.
However, until this week, nothing had happened since last summer. Mme Joly had not mentioned the war in Sudan in his public statements for months, but last week, as the first anniversary of the conflict approached, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen promised more humanitarian funding.
Monday, Mme Joly announced sanctions against those who “directly or indirectly undermine peace, security and stability in Sudan,” about seven months after Washington took a similar step.
Among those sanctioned are Sudanese paramilitary commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo as well as former Foreign Minister Ali Karti, who led an Islamist group opposed to democratic rule. Ottawa is also sanctioning four companies it accuses of emboldening the two warring factions.
“This is a small first step by the Canadian government after a year of inaction as Sudan’s civil war erupted, with thousands of people killed, displaced and now on the brink of self-induced famine. by man,” said New Democratic Party (NDP) foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson in a statement Monday.
“We need more effort”
Mr. Abusalih said Sudan deeply appreciates the $170 million that Canada offered last year to Sudanese living in the country and those who fled to neighboring states.
Canada supplemented this funding with an additional $132 million as part of a US$2.1 billion ($2.9 CAD) fund for humanitarian aid, promised Monday at a global conference at which Mr. Hussen participated in Paris.
Abusalih said the Sudanese people, who face hunger, lack of medicine and violence in the camps, desperately need money.
“I hope that the Paris conference will not just be an international public relations campaign, because in the past we used to organize such conferences for Sudan. Nothing came of these conferences and I hope that all countries will soon keep their commitments. »
Mr. Abusalih left his post in October, six months after the start of the war, which he said was one of the factors that pushed him to resign. Since then, Sudan has had only two diplomats in Ottawa.
The Sudanese respect Canada and many remember how the former Canadian International Development Agency helped lead the mechanization of agriculture in the country, Abusalih said.
In his view, Canada could help create a transition plan for a post-conflict Sudan, in which an interim group of non-partisan experts could manage the country and resolve the humanitarian crisis before democratic elections.
Whatever happens, none of the conflicting groups will be able to take control of the country, he argued.
“We need more efforts from the international community to end the ongoing war in Sudan. After this war ends, we will need the United Nations and our friends to call for an international conference for the reconstruction of Sudan. »
Meanwhile, Canada has yet to reunite a single family with loved ones trying to flee the conflict.
Ottawa announced last December a program intended to allow people fleeing Sudan to join relatives in Canada who have the means to provide financial support.
Canadians with relatives in Sudan say the program is too burdensome and costly, while the government says it doesn’t plan to welcome anyone until almost a year after last December’s announcement.
Mr. Abusalih hopes that Canada can accelerate the program and put pressure on other countries to get the two factions to stop fighting.
“There is no winner in this war and, ultimately, the loser is the Sudanese people,” he said.
reference: www.lapresse.ca