| Letter to the Editor, Independent, 19th
July 2006
With Darfur poised on a knife-edge, the international
response remains confused, inadequate, timid and criminally negligent.
While the UN lacks the will to intervene and the African Union lacks
the means, Britain should play a meaningful role in this colossal
spiral of misery that has engulfed the region for three and a half
years and robbed 400,000 lives.
The case for the urgent deployment of a strong, mobile,
fast-reacting UN force in Darfur to protect civilians and keep aid
channels open is beyond dispute. Although Security Council adopted
Resolution 1706 passed two weeks ago called on the secretary-general
to arrange for the rapid deployment of the UN Mission in Sudan,
this was conditional on the basis of the acceptance of the Sudanese
government. They have said no, and vowed to emulate Hezbollah in
Lebanon and smash any incoming force.
Between a rock and a hard place, aid agencies remain
the sole life line for some 2.5 million people who swell camps for
displaced people. But the deliberate targeting of aid workers since
the signing of an unpopular peace deal in May has lead to the deaths
of 8 humanitarians in July alone.
And worse is to come with the Sudanese government
this week renewing aerial bombing and sending thousands of troops
to the region.
Unless Khartoum drops objections to a United Nations
peacekeeping force in Darfur, most if not all foreign aid organisations
are likely to pull out of Darfur, leaving its already devastated
civilian population further exposed and at risk.
Britain has the armed muscle and has made clear its
willingness to join a UN-sponsored response unit. The question is
whether the UK and other nations will act now to prevent further
tragedy in Darfur or merely express sorrow and act later to deal
with its aftermath. The onus is on them to go it alone and put the
lives of the most vulnerable before anything else.
Yours sincerely,
JOHN O’SHEA
|
