UN Pulling out of Darfur

Bad news for the people of Darfur. Although the UN has declared what is occurring in Darfur a Genocide, they are being forced to evacuate most of their staff because of the escalating violence. The United States also called what is occurring in Darfur a genocide and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requested increased funds for the state department to aid in Darfur. However, the US Congress rejected her plea and did not allocate additional funding for Darfur.

Congress rejected U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's impassioned appeal to provide $50 million for African troops trying to keep peace in Sudan's Darfur region, the State Department said on Monday.

U.S. funding for about 6,000 African Union peacekeepers ends this year and the State Department is concerned that violence in Darfur will only get worse if more money is not found to keep the mission going.

How far we've come from the oft repeated "Never Again."

Even worse, the violence threatens to pour over into Chad as rebels on both sides of the Chad/Sudan border are making raids.

Several rebel groups last week said they were banding together to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Deby accuses the Sudanese government in Khartoum of backing them and has urged the United Nations to take over Darfur's administration. Khartoum denies any involvement.

The decision to restrict staffing "does not mean there will be an overall evacuation," U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"Essential life-saving humanitarian services delivered by the U.N. will continue, and the mission will monitor the situation and carry out a fresh security assessment of the area in the next two to three weeks," Dujarric said.

The move was "due to the increased instability in the affected areas, including a buildup of forces on ether side of the Sudan-Chad border, with increased potential for armed conflict," he said.

The border tensions have further complicated a debilitating civil war that has raged in Darfur since February 2003, pitting Sudanese rebels against government forces.

Tens of thousands have been killed and 2 million have left their homes for camps in Sudan and Chad to flee the fighting.

The area now hosts one of the world's largest humanitarian operations, with more than 11,000 aid workers struggling to feed, clothe and shelter inhabitants.

The Sudanese rebels began fighting to pressure the Arab-dominated central government to respond to the needs of Darfur's villagers. U.N. officials say Khartoum then armed Arab militias to fight the rebels, and that the militias launched a campaign of rape, killing and looting that continues to this day.

So Please, write your representative or senator today and urge them to fund the peace keeping missions in Darfur.

Not sure what to say? Take a look at Sen. Barack Obama's letter that was printed in the Washington Post:

It is essential that the Bush administration shift its approach to confront the new and mounting challenges. Only the United States, working in concert with key nations, has the leverage and resources to persuade Khartoum to change its ways:

First, the administration must help transform the African Union protection force into a sizable, effective multinational force.

In the near term, Washington must pressure Khartoum to allow more advisers from Western nations to embed within the African Union's mission so they support intelligence, logistics and communications. It must work with other nations to provide military assets to African Union forces, such as attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers, so they can respond immediately to attacks. And it must urge the African Union to be more aggressive in protecting civilians. More important, Washington must immediately spearhead efforts to create a larger multinational force. The African Union has begun discussions with the United Nations about folding itself into a follow-on U.N. mission, but because of the West's reluctance to offend African sensibilities, all parties seem resigned to muddling along. It has become clear that a U.N.- or NATO-led force is required, and the administration must use diplomacy to override Chinese and Sudanese opposition to such a force and persuade outside troops to join it.

Second, the administration must keep up the pressure on the rebels to unite their negotiating positions, and it must enlist Sudan's allies to increase the pressure on Khartoum to share power and resources.

Third, the United States and other nations must place additional pressure on key nations -- Chad, Eritrea and Libya -- to stop playing a destructive role in the conflict.

Fourth, the administration needs to place its weight behind the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which would impose targeted sanctions on the leading perpetrators of the genocide.

The Bush administration has helped reduce suffering in Darfur, but the situation is dangerously adrift. And when the history of this tragedy is written, nobody will remember how many times officials visited the region or how much humanitarian aid was delivered. They will only remember the death toll.

posted by Sarai @ 3:41 PM