SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post – Genocide looms again in Darfur. Will the world stop it from happening?
David Simon, the director of Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program, calls for a UN-authorised peacekeeping operation to protect civilians in Al-Fashir and secure its airport for humanitarian assistance delivery, with the African Union sourcing and organising troops and western states supplying materiel.
Simon argues that this “most extreme measure in the atrocity-prevention tool kit” is necessary as “the world’s dithering…has left Sudan facing resumed genocide, with no other options to prevent it”.
Citing the recent Rapid Support Forces (RSF) genocides in Al-Gineina and Nyala, Simon notes that Al-Fashir is the last refuge for Darfur’s non-Arab citizens, and warns that the fall of Al-Fashir to the RSF would enable the militia to “complete their genocidal project”.
Simon adds that “options are dwindling by the day” as attempts to negotiate a ceasefire are contingent upon the UAE, “known to be the RSF’s major international sponsor”, applying pressure.