U.S. and European media

March 31, 2023

New York Times: Obama Urges Sudan to Allow Aid Groups Back Into the Country. President Obama on Monday repeated his request for Sudan to let more than a dozen expelled humanitarian aid groups back into the country and suggested that if it did not, he would "find some mechanism" to get food, water and medicine to the people of Darfur. Mr. Obama did not specify what that mechanism might be, but aides later said he meant increasing help to aid groups remaining in Sudan. Activists leaving a White House meeting with Mr. Obama raised the possibility of targeted sanctions or "humanitarian corridors" guaranteeing safe passage of supplies, presumably with foreign military help. "If we get several weeks down the road and there hasn't been any action, other options will have to be looked at," said Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition.

Boston Globe: Hub activist meets with President Obama on Darfur. The Rev. Gloria White-Hammond of Boston was among activists who huddled yesterday with President Obama, members of Congress, and his special envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration, ahead of Gration's first trip to the war-torn nation. Hammond, a retired pediatrician, has been focusing on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, which the US State Department has declared a genocide. She is board chairman for the Save Darfur Coalition, whose president, Jerry Fowler, also attended the meeting. Afterward, Obama said the Sudan crisis is worsening and he hopes Gration can persuade President Omar al-Bashir's government to allow aid groups back in the country to "avert an enormous humanitarian crisis." Fowler said his coalition was "reassured" of Obama's commitment on the issue and said that Gration must tell Sudanese officials that they now face a "fundamental choice." "They must choose between continuing policies which have thrown the lives of millions of Sudanese civilians on the fire and have placed Sudan on a path toward greater international isolation, or reversing those policies and reconciling with an international community whose support for Bashir, and thus for Sudan, will only grow weaker as time passes," Fowler said in a statement.

Associated Press: Obama sends envoy to Darfur. President Barack Obama said Monday on the eve of an envoy's trip to Darfur that the humanitarian crisis there has worsened but global outrage could pressure Sudanese leaders to let aid workers return. Obama said the conflict in Sudan will not be easy to solve, but the United States and the world cannot sit idly by. Obama said Gration's immediate emphasis would be bringing rival groups together to end the conflict. "Fortunately, what's happened in Darfur has touched so many people around the world, and we have seen such an extraordinary mobilization of advocates, many of who are sitting at this table," Obama said. "I actually think that America can speak effectively with one voice and bring the moral and other elements of our stature to bear in trying to deal with this situation." Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, said he was reassured by Obama's recent statements, such as calling the expulsion unacceptable. "The coalition is also hopeful that Gration will soon travel to key capitals to directly engage with leadership and garner support for multilateral efforts to convince -- and if necessary compel -- the Bashir regime to reopen humanitarian access and make real progress towards achieving a true peace in Darfur," Fowler said.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].