Peace in Sudan remains elusive, and in recent weeks, the war has seemingly faded from the public consciousness outside Sudan. Despite its devastating humanitarian toll, mainstream media and usually active international organizations and partners have recently fallen silent, to the point where the conflict was becoming a ‘forgotten war’. However, that is no longer the case, and thanks are due to President Isaias of Eritrea. As he has done before, President Isaias provided a platform yesterday to rekindle regional concern and prioritize the conflict by hosting a Sudanese delegation.
The Eritrean president received General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, and his delegation, which arrived in Asmara for a working visit. His delegation, consisting of Sudan’s Minister of Finance and Planning and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was warmly welcomed by President Isaias upon their arrival at Asmara International Airport. Subsequently, the two leaders and their delegations engaged in high-level discussions before the Sudanese delegation departed in the early afternoon.
While the details of the meeting remain limited, the Eritrean Minister of Information has indicated that the extensive talks primarily centered on bilateral relations and efforts towards peace in Sudan. President Isaias reaffirmed Eritrea’s stance on the Transition to Safety, a position submitted before the eruption of the conflict. He also highlighted potential challenges arising from the proliferation of various initiatives, emphasizing the necessity for effective coordination and harmonization of these efforts. In response, General Burhan expressed gratitude for Eritrea’s position and concurred with the views of the Eritrean president.
Thus, yesterday’s meeting between Sudan’s al-Burhan and President Isaias, if looked at from a broader perspective, can be located within the context of Eritrea’s expanding role as a stabilizing force and a guarantor of peace and stability in the region. The country’s historical role in fostering, facilitating, and mediating dialogues among rival groups in various conflict zones across the horn, starkly contradicts the portrayal by Western mainstream media which often preposterously label Eritrea as a ‘troublemaker,’ merely because the country chooses to pursue an independent foreign policy rather than a subversive one.
All evidence in the last two decades however points to a peaceful country, which when it has been involved in war, has only done so in self-defense. Moreover, the country has played a crucial role in hosting and mediating some of the region’s most significant peace agreements and processes, including negotiations among warring groups in Somalia. President Isaias has equally been instrumental in peace initiatives in South Sudan, contributing significantly to the current level of stability, making him highly popular in South Sudan.
It’s no wonder that last week, President Kiir of South Sudan couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet with him on the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya, where the two updated each other on various matters, including the situation in Sudan. During the meeting, President Isaias reiterated his commitment to the resolutions of the summit in Egypt and the ministerial meeting in Chad.
The ongoing Sudan crisis, of course, has concerned President Isaias, so much so that, even from before the escalation of the conflict, he has provided leadership in addressing it. Ever the man who doesn’t care about taking credit even when it’s due to him, he, unlike others, has discreetly proposed pragmatic solutions for resolving the conflict.
His proposals have been prompted not by a desire to join the bandwagon of proliferating initiatives or to introduce shallow, run-of-the-mill templates that are alien to the objective realities and political trajectories of Sudan, but by a genuine desire to bring about peace and stability to a neighboring country with which Eritrea shares much in common. All of this he has done without interfering in the internal affairs of Sudan, despite Eritrea bearing the brunt of the conflict, including an influx of refugees fleeing.
Instead, he has consistently stood by Sudan, working not only to resolve the conflict but playing a key role in addressing the humanitarian crisis that the conflict has created. Indeed, yesterday’s meeting came on the backdrop of another meeting involving high-level delegations of Sudan’s political parties and entities, which arrived in the Eritrean capital of Asmara on Sunday. Upon their arrival, the leaders of the delegation engaged in intensive discussions to address critical issues, with the agenda primarily focused on efforts to halt the ongoing conflict, alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and facilitate Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue.
“Eritrea has open borders and will continue to receive, without fanfare, Eritrean and Sudanese civilians, as well as others, affected by the current conflict and share with them whatever it has”, he said at the height of the Sudan conflict in May, speaking in Arabic to stress the solidarity of Eritrea with and convey a message to, the people of the Sudan who had offered sanctuary to Eritreans as full citizens during the dark decades of the country’s own liberation struggle.
Indeed, his position was stressed in a May 2023 interview. Whilst conveying Eritrea’s solidarity with the Sudanese people, he stressed that the responsibility for resolving the costly conflict rests with the people of Sudan. He further emphasized that Sudan’s neighbors, including Eritrea, can only play a supportive role, individually and through IGAD, in facilitating an enabling environment for the Sudanese people as they work towards establishing the new political dispensation they desire.
So, whatever the outcomes of yesterday’s meeting, which we can only speculate about, one thing is certain, it was convened in the spirit of providing an ‘enabling environment’, and guidance to the warring sides of the Sudan conflict to resolve their differences. It is therefore bound to have a positive impact on the quest for peace and stability in Sudan. Similar meetings preceded the conflicts in South Sudan and Somalia, ultimately contributing to the return of peace.
I’m confident that achieving peace and restoring normalcy to the people of Sudan was the primary goal of this meeting. And President Isaias’s hosting of the Sudanese delegation was not only timely but also highly significant. It underscores Eritrea’s commitment to regional stability and affirms President Isaias’s role as a bridge builder and advocate for peaceful resolutions and Eritrea’s role as a stabilizing country in the Horn of Africa.
