Verhagen and Koenders going to Sudan

02 Aug 2024 | Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen and development minister Bert Koenders are pleased with the UN resolution for a peace mission to Darfur, which should be arriving in the region at the end of 2007.

The government is studying whether the Netherlands could support the operation, and if so, how. ‘We cannot let the people of Darfur down,’ Verhagen said. ‘The government’s decision to investigate the possibility of a Dutch contribution to the mission follows from our long-term involvement with Sudan.’

Koenders referred to the mission as ‘a big step forward’. He emphasised the importance of a mixed force in Darfur, to put a stop to ‘this humanitarian disaster of the worst kind’. Earlier this year, the Sudanese government agreed to a mixed force made up of United Nations and African Union troops.