WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today released the following statement on the need for the Biden Administration to change its strategy on Sudan:
“The Biden Administration's ‘emergency diplomacy’ efforts regarding Sudan in Jeddah with Saudi Arabia have repeatedly failed. This diplomatic strategy, similar to previous ineffective efforts by the administration in Sudan, has wrongly empowered the belligerent parties who have consistently broken their promises. Expecting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) or Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to honor their latest commitments is futile.
“This diplomacy has not stopped the atrocities. As mediators in Jeddah secured humanitarian ‘commitments,’ the RSF initiated new ethnically-targeted attacks in Darfur, and the SAF continued to hinder aid distribution in areas it controls. As the United States claims success in Jeddah, more innocent Sudanese perish.
“The war in Sudan is an unrelenting horror that further proves the United States needs to change its strategy on Sudan. The Biden Administration must extend its efforts beyond Jeddah and engage with a broader array of regional and international partners, especially forging significant partnerships with African leaders who are dedicated to establishing a peaceful, civilian-led future in Sudan.”
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