Sudan has rejected a UN call for an international peace force to protect civilians amidst its ongoing civil war.

A UN fact-finding mission reported that Sudan’s warring parties had committed severe human rights violations against civilians. Since the conflict began in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), thousands have been killed and nearly eight million displaced. The two factions, which had initially staged a coup together, fell out, leading to the civil war.

Chande Othman, the lead of the UN mission, stated that due to the warring parties’ failure to protect civilians, it is crucial to deploy an independent and impartial force immediately. The mission also recommended an arms embargo on both sides. This report followed interviews with 182 survivors, family members, and eyewitnesses.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is alleged to support the RSF with money and arms, a claim it denies, while Saudi Arabia is said to have close ties with the Sudanese government.

Sudan’s foreign ministry has entirely rejected the mission’s recommendations, criticizing the UN Human Rights Council as a “political and illegal body” and viewing the recommendations as a “flagrant violation of their mandate.” The RSF has yet to comment on the proposal.

In response, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged global intervention to alleviate Sudan’s crisis during a visit to Port Sudan, the new government headquarters after being displaced from Khartoum by the RSF. He described the emergency’s scale and the inadequate response to the conflict’s suffering as shocking.

In August, a UN-backed committee declared a famine at a camp housing around 500,000 displaced people near el-Fasher in Darfur, a region severely affected by the conflict. Mediation efforts by Saudi Arabia and the US have so far failed to resolve the conflict.