All uniformed and civilian personnel will be withdrawn from Sudan by 30 June 2021

More than 6,500 peacekeepers are leaving Darfur region after the United Nations–African Union Mission in Sudan came to a closure on Thursday last week.

UNAMID mission in the restive region came to an end after 13 years of peacekeeping service.

This is after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2559 which ends UNAMID’s mandate on 31 December 2020.

Until Thursday, there were 4,050 military personnel and 2,500 police advisers and police units deployed in Darfur. 

UNAMID was mandated to protect civilians, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and ensure the safety of humanitarian personnel, mediate between the Government of Sudan and non-signatory armed movements; and support the mediation of community conflict, including through measures to address its root causes.

According to the UN Security Council, the Government of Sudan will now fully assume its primary role in addressing all the issues in these areas. 

It said the decision to end the mission was motivated by the ongoing peace process in Sudan, including the establishment and progress made by the transitional Government of Sudan in its quest to address the conflict in Darfur.

In 2017, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations El Ghassim Wane told the UNSC that Darfur has seen a “significantly lower level of armed hostilities”.

This was echoed by the Sudanese government stating that Darfur has become secure and stable.

The Security Council, however, said: “the end of UNAMID’s mandate and its departure from Sudan does not mean the end of the international community’s support to Sudan.”

It stated that the UN will “continue to support the Government of Sudan in addressing its multiple challenges related to security, political and economic challenges.”

UNAMID will have a period of six months to repatriate troops, their vehicles and other equipment.

“This will involve repatriating troops, their vehicles and other equipment, separation of international and national staff as well as a sequential closure of Mission’s team sites and offices and handing them over to designated entities in line with United Nations rules,” a statement seen by Eye Radio noted.

The UN expects to withdraw all uniformed and civilian personnel from Sudan by 30 June 2021, except for a small team.

The team will finalise any remaining issues and complete the administrative closure of UNAMID in Sudan.

The last peacekeeping patrols, programmatic and other mandated tasks of UNAMID took on December 31, 2020.

On December 31, 2007, the United Nations Security Council authorized the establishment of an international peacekeeping force in Darfur under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

The mission deployed 4,005 military personnel, 480 police advisers, 1,631 formed police unit officers, 483 international civilian staff, 64 United Nations volunteers, and 945 national civilian staff.

Since its inception, UNAMID has had 64 fatalities with 51 being military officers and 13 police officers.

The top troop-contributing countries were; Ethiopia, Rwanda, Pakistan, Egypt, Tanzania، Indonesia, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Gambia, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.