Letter to the Editor, Sunday Independent, 17th September 2006

Sir,
 
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, the UN’s aid chief warned this week.
 
2.5 million people now languish in camps for displaced persons and rely solely on overstretched aid agencies for survival. But aid workers run ever-greater risks delivering food and urgent supplies to the region, with 8 aid workers being killed during vicious lethal attacks in July alone.
 
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. Two weeks ago, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1706 asking the secretary-general to arrange for the rapid deployment of the UN Mission in Sudan.
 
But Sudan is opposing any UN involvement in peacekeeping, and has vowed to emulate Hezbollah in Lebanon and smash any incoming force. It has threatened to expel the African Union troops at the end of September, and has renewed aerial bombing and has sent thousands of troops to the region.
 
The beleaguered AU, although grossly outnumbered, ill-equipped, under-funded, and outgunned, remain the only bulwark in Darfur to prevent killings, rape and pillaging.
 
Darfur is in free fall and world powers must insist on deploying UN peacekeepers there to avert a complete collapse. The question is whether the US and other nations will act now to prevent further tragedy in Darfur or merely express sorrow and act later to deal with its aftermath.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
JOHN O’SHEA