Sudan Foreign Ministry voices ‘astonishment and condemnation’ over Paris conference

Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed “its utmost astonishment and condemnation” of the humanitarian conference on April 15 in Paris, convened by France, Norway, the United Kingdom, the USA, and the European Union, denouncing “that such a conference is convened on a matter concerning Sudan without consultation or coordination with its government and without its participation…”

In a stern statement from Port Sudan today, the ministry condemned the conference announcement by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said that the conference is convened on matters concerning Sudan, an independent and sovereign state and a member of the United Nations, without Sudan’s participation and without consultation or coordination with its government.

The Sudanese government is exclusively representing the country internationally in various forums, organisations, and regional and international platforms, and it exchanges diplomatic representation with various countries worldwide, including with France itself, the ministry said.

The organisation of the conference without the Sudanese government’s involvement represents a grave disregard for international law, the United Nations Charter, and the principle of state sovereignty, the statement read.

The ministerial statement said that the government of Sudan, based on its responsibility for its people, was the first to seek to mobilise the necessary international support to confront the humanitarian crisis created by the aggression of the militia and its foreign sponsors against the Sudanese people.

The partly-civilian government of Sudan was deposed in a military coup d’état in 2021. The Commanders of the Sudanese army, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, and of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, took power and assumed the roles of Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council.

Since April 2023, the two generals have been at war with each other and Hemedti was expelled from the government, leaving the Sudanese government de facto in the hands of the army.

As a result of the coup, Sudan lost billions worth of financial aid.

‘Political and propaganda festivals’

The ministry called on the international community “to fulfil previous pledges instead of wasting resources and efforts in holding new conferences, which will be nothing more than political and propaganda festivals.”

It renewed the Sudanese government’s commitment to providing all possible facilities to mobilise and deliver humanitarian aid to those in need throughout the country.

In its statement, the ministry called on the international community to take a firm stance against the Rapid Support Forces’ targeting of humanitarian aid convoys through the routes agreed upon between Sudan and the United Nations, such as its detention of UNICEF and World Food Program vehicles carrying children’s food and medicines intended for displacement camps.

It said that “the Sudanese people alone have the right to manage their public affairs, and to authorise whomever they see fit to lead them towards achieving their aspirations for peace, democracy, and development without guardianship or interference from external forces, no matter how much they claim to be concerned for their safety and interests.”