Plan B for Darfur

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http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/1265/2006/11/11-150726-1.htm


Plan B for Darfur
11 Dec 2006 15:07:00 GMT

Blogged by: Nina Brenjo
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"Ever since summer, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has been making fools of world leaders who want to stop the genocide in Darfur", says the Chicago Tribune. If you take that view, you'd probably say he was still doing that for International Human Rights Day yesterday, marked by campaigners' calls for peace in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur is spilling over into neighbouring Chad, where the government is fighting off rebels it claims are supported by the Sudanese government. Significantly, and unlike Sudan, Chad's government is willing to have U.N. troops on its side of the border with Sudan. The United Nations should take this offer up quickly, says the Tribune editorial, since other options to do something about the conflict in Darfur aren't looking too promising. Deployment in Chad wouldn't halt violence in Darfur, but it might at least help contain it, the paper concludes.

Some aid agencies are getting a bit fed up with "leaders who want to stop the genocide in Darfur". The secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which was expelled from Darfur last month, complains in Britain's Independent that they don't seem be speaking out about humanitarian access to Darfur being squeezed, making it harder and harder to provide "life-saving relief".

NRC's Tomas Archer says relief agencies are still being hounded by the government, some aid organisations' permits have been withdrawn, aid workers are barred from accessing the area and their work is constantly being obstructed.

Meanwhile, there are 4 million people in need of protection and emergency relief in the coming months, and "...the international community cannot continue to mince words, pretending that the hostage-taking of humanitarian operations in Darfur is not happening on its watch," Archer continues. " (It's) time for the international community to break its code of silence, and act," he concludes.

The Economist agrees with the Chicago Tribune about the deployment of U.N. troops in Chad on the border with Sudan, but also warns about the link between Darfur and Sudan's south:

"...if Darfur remains a killing field, the chance of the south staying peaceful is small," it cautions.