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Mike Pflanz, Daily Telegraph, 2nd August 2007
Aid workers were sharp in their criticism of the new peacekeeping force for Darfur championed by Gordon Brown, warning yesterday that it is unlikely to alleviate suffering in the region.
They said that “grey areas” in the mandate of the joint United Nations and African Union mission agreed by the Un Security council on Tuesday left it unclear as to how effective it would be in countering attacks on civilians.
The much-anticipated move by the UN will see 26,000 peacekeeping troops take over from 7,000 ineffective AU soldiers who have been hamstrung by a lack of funds and, crucially, a weak mandate.
But senior aid workers said the new force could prove equally as ineffective unless its terms of engagement were spelt out clearly.
“This mission is unlikely to end the pain and suffering of the vulnerable people of Darfur,” said John O’Shea, the director of GOAL UK, which has 160 staff supporting 200,000 desperate civilians in north Darfur.
“Why will it take six months to assemble the force when, in the words of Gordon Brown, this is the worst tragedy in the world? Where is the urgency?
“Will they have permission to disarm the Janjaweed [Arab militia] and take action against the Sudanese air force when they launch bombing raids?
“It would appear that the international force will monitor the situation and only be allowed to use force when attacked. Unless this force has real clout they are better off staying at home.”
The four-year-old conflict in western Sudan was a key issue during the Prime Minister’s meeting with President George W Bush on Monday and later when he addressed the UN.
An estimated 200,000 people have died and two million have been forced from their homes since fighting broke out between Darfur’s rebel groups and the Sudanese government in February 2003.
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