Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides)- International pressure increases to convince Khartoum to put an end to violence in Darfur, the tormented western region which borders on Chad.
Yesterday 25 September during a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the African Union agreed to increase its troops in Darfur from 7,000 to 11,000.
Moreover the AU mission, set to end 30 September, has been extended to the end of the year. Several international observers and experts say although a larger AU force in Dafur is necessary and has been welcomed by the international community, it will not stop the tragedy in Darfur. In fact after18 months of intervention the badly equipped AU forces appear almost non existent and civil war continues and attacks by government backed militia have resumed with the support of air-raids on urban centres recently documented by the United Nations.
The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights OHCHR accused government airforce of indiscriminate bombing of villages using, according to eyewitnesses, ‘white aircraft’ subjecting the population to another nightmare. OHCHR also accuses government backed militia of committing rape and other sexual violence on women in southern Darfur.
Increased violence prevents international organisations from assisting the people, in particular at least 2 million internally displaced persons living in refugee camps. According to a member of an international humanitarian organisation the government offensive in the past month forced 50,000 people to abandon their homes, half of the 100,000 IDP since May.
Access for humanitarian organisations was lowest in February 2003, when the conflict started. Many humanitarian workers had to leave whole areas such as northern Darfur where there are 350,000 people in need of everything.
This situation led to calls from many sides for a larger military intervention. The UN Security Council passed a resolution to send 20,000 UN peacekeepers to the region with the consensus of the local government, but Khartoum rejected the proposal and accepted the extension of the ineffective AU peacekeeping force.
While diplomacy tries to find a solution, the humanitarian crisis continues and 250,000 lives have been lost in raids, raping, fires, slavery and 2.5 million have fled their homes. These poor people live a life of survival in desperate conditions in refugee camps often prey to attacks by the infamous Janjaweed horsemen: nomad Arabs who do the dirty work for Khartoum (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/9/2006 righe 46 parole 515)
