Diplomats indicated on Wednesday that the United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a British-drafted resolution demanding an end to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) siege of El Fasher, a city in North Darfur, Sudan.
The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, a halt to the escalation in and around the city, and the withdrawal of all combatants who threaten the safety and security of civilians.
Britain has requested that the 15-member Security Council hold a vote on the draft resolution on Thursday afternoon.
The resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from any of the five permanent members—Russia, China, the United States, Britain, and France—to be adopted.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in April of last year between the Sudanese army and the RSF, leading to the world’s largest displacement crisis.
El Fasher remains the last major city in the Darfur region of western Sudan not under RSF control. The RSF and its allies overran four other state capitals in Darfur last year, amidst accusations of conducting ethnically motivated killings targeting non-Arab tribes and committing other abuses in West Darfur.
In April, senior UN officials warned that around 800,000 people in El Fasher were at “grave and immediate risk” due to escalating violence, which threatens to ignite a bloody sectarian conflict across Darfur.
The Security Council’s draft resolution demands “all parties to the conflict ensure the protection of civilians, including allowing those wishing to move within and outside of El Fasher to safer areas to do so.”
It also urges countries to refrain from actions that could exacerbate the conflict and instability and to instead support efforts towards a lasting peace.
The United Nations reports that nearly 25 million people—half of Sudan’s population—require humanitarian assistance, about eight million people have been displaced from their homes, and hunger is on the rise.
