Letter to the editor, Irish Examiner, 27th July 2006

Sir,
 
That three aid workers were beaten to death in Darfur on Thursday, is yet another stark reminder of the extreme threat of danger that aid workers operate under in this cursed region.

The incident follows an attack on two non-governmental organisations in the Jebel Mara area two days earlier, and the fatal shooting of an NGO driver attacked by bandits in Darfur's El Geneina days earlier.

GOAL is extremely concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in Darfur. We have been unable to access our 11 clinics in much of the region, cutting off a lifeline to some 200,000 people.

Grossly outnumbered, naive, ill-equipped, underfunded, and outgunned, the African Union have failed to quell the bloodshed, protect civilians and aid workers, and to keep aid channels open.

Despite pressure from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations on Sudan to allow a U.N. mission to replace the African Union force in Darfur, Sudan has repeatedly rejected the mission transfer, likening a U.N. presence in Darfur to a Western invasion.

Meantime the lives of 400,000 have already been taken by the conflict, and some 2.4 million displaced people continue to swell the already strained camps.

Yours sincerely,
 
JOHN O’SHEA