Seven Democratic U.S. senators urged the U.S. to press the United Nations Security Council to adopt tougher sanctions designed to cut off the cash flows that sustain Sudan’s war.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) led the letter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, asking the U.S. to seek new measures that go beyond traditional gold sanctions. Murphy wants explicit prohibitions on precursor chemicals used in artisanal gold extraction and the development of due diligence rules for gum arabic procurement, steps he says would strike at the economic engine of the conflict.
Murphy argued ordinary restrictions on gold transactions are insufficient, and urged the council to pair point-of-sale measures with controls on inputs to mining. He wrote that artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for approximately 80-90% of Sudan’s gold production and that key precursor chemicals, notably mercury and sodium cyanide, are largely imported from China, the United Arab Emirates, and some European Union nations, citing a 2025 report. He recommended adopting an export ban on those chemicals as part of the Security Council’s Sudan sanctions regime, with exceptions for humanitarian needs.
The letter also pressed for tighter rules on gum arabic, a natural product whose sale and smuggling now provide revenue and trade leverage used by armed actors. Murphy said profits from gum arabic are small compared with gold but nonetheless help sustain finance for fighting, noting cross-border smuggling and re‑labelling into neighbouring markets such as Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt. He asked the Panel of Experts to draft procurement due diligence guidelines to prevent smuggled product entering global supply chains.
Murphy asked the U.S. to demand stronger, more transparent reporting from the Security Council’s Sudan Panel of Experts, including annual reports that explicitly identify arms embargo violations and the parties responsible. He urged the panel to name third-party countries that circumvent UN restrictions, citing other UN panels’ practice of public documentation as a model.
The letter frames these proposals around an urgent humanitarian backdrop: the conflict has driven over half of Sudan’s population into severe hunger and displaced more than 14 million people. Murphy warned that a straight renewal of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1591 (2005) without these changes will not end the violence, and called for coordinated measures to raise the cost of waging war. The senators have asked Ambassador Waltz to press these priorities at the council as deliberations continue.
