Sudan began testing its capacity on Wednesday to provide security and other services to areas that were originally embroiled in conflict, after the departure of African Union and United Nations peacekeeping forces.
Wednesday, June 30, was the last day for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (Unamid) to complete the phase-out required by UN Security Council Resolution 2559 (2020), which ended the mission’s mandate in January.
Unamid was deployed in 2007 with the mission of bringing peace to an area where violence had erupted about four years earlier when local armed groups rose up against Omar al-administration, Bashir’s accusing it of tyranny.
Bashir was ousted and is now serving a prison sentence for corruption, but the war in Darfur is estimated to have killed 300,000 people and displaced another three million, according to UN estimates.
Unamid’s departure means Khartoum, which has worked to reconcile with various militant forces, will now be in full control of overall security for the country, for the first time in 15 years.
Babacar Cisse, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for UNAMID, will now supervise the phase-out period. This will include finalizing staff departures, repatriating assets, transferring team sites to local authorities, and collaborating with the government on related issues.
Unamid deployed approximately 100,000 military and police peacekeepers to Darfur throughout its tenure. It had a peak deployment of 23,000 forces in 2011, but by the time the mandate expired, it reduced to just about 7,000 military and civilian personnel, the most of whom had returned to their home countries.
Unamid said that it has transferred 14 team sites to the government, which has pledged to utilize them for civilian purposes in accordance with the framework agreement signed on March 4 this year.
