Humanitarian Aid Before Politics: The Priority is to Save Lives Now
Khartoum is trying to mix up issues intentionally and is waging a campaign by leaking false information to the media. I have been approached by a number of Khartoum media-based entities and would like to make the SPLM-N’s position clear to the public on the following important issues.
The issues that have been falsely leaked are:
Khartoum claims that political dialogue is going to be carried out between the SPLM-N and the government and they went as far as saying that they will only speak with part of the SPLM-N.
Khartoum claims that this negotiation will lead to a ceasefire and that they are going to carry out more consultations with the international community on the urgent humanitarian assistance that is needed for thousands of IDPs.
The SPLM-N would like to state the following:
1) Humanitarian aid is a right for those in need. It should not be based on political conditions. Humanitarian aid for needy people comes before politics.
2) The SPLM-N leadership is on record with the international community that whenever the modalities of delivering humanitarian aid require a cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds, the SPLM-N will fully cooperate.
3) The ongoing consultations between Khartoum and the international community on humanitarian aid, which has taken 10 months since war started, is part of the policy to buy time by the National Congress especially since the rainy season is imminent and will make access for humanitarian assistance impossible.
4) If the leadership of the National Congress is not ready to allow access for humanitarian aid, how can they allow access for a political solution? If they are not ready to deliver humanitarian aid, how can they be ready for a political solution? Allowing humanitarian access is easier than offering political concessions. Delivering humanitarian aid is a separate track from the political process and it will help create a conducive atmosphere for any political settlement. The priority is to save lives now.
5) The SPLM-N and the Sudan Revolutionary Front are for a holistic, peaceful settlement not a piecemeal solution that will reproduce war.
6) The Sudan problem can only be solved by addressing the wrong policies in Khartoum. It is Khartoum that wages war against Darfur, Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, Eastern Sudan and Southern Sudan, and they marginalize the majority of the Sudanese people. In the present situation, a solution cannot be found in Kadugli, Damazin, or Al Fasher. It can only be found by transforming Khartoum politics.
Yasir Arman
Secretary General, SPLM-N
April 7, 2012
