Sudan – Sudan declares the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UNITAMS mission to be persona non grata (June 9, 2023)

France deeply regrets the Sudanese government’s decision to call for the departure of Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

We applaud the ongoing commitment and relentless efforts of Mr. Perthes and all the UNITAMS teams to build peace and support the democratic transition in Sudan, and more recently, to obtain a ceasefire and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.

We offer them our full support. UNITAMS’s mandate was renewed unanimously on June 2, thereby demonstrating the Security Council’s full support for its vital efforts.

The clashes that have occurred since April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces are a dramatic setback for the peace process in Sudan and that country’s transition to a civilian government. We call on all the warring parties to end the fighting and permit access to humanitarian assistance.

Only the return to an inclusive political process leading to the appointment of a transition government and general elections can resolve this crisis in the long term.