The European Union has failed to find a firm action plan that could help prevent killings in the Darfur region of Sudan.
As German deputy foreign minister Kerstin Muller sees it, the suffering continues because the Sudanese government and the rebels in Darfur are unwilling to search for a political solution, and because the international community lacks the determination to end the conflict.
Germany wants the EU to impose sanctions against key players in the conflict. That will include freezing their financial assets and restricting their travel. But EU members remain divided over this proposal. Some countries such as Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Austria support this approach, but others like France and Britain want sanctions only if approved by the United Nations Security Council.
A third group of countries, mainly Italy, Spain and Poland do not want to see sanctions of any kind.
As politicians quarrel about sanctions, human rights and humanitarian organizations are calling for a robust force to stop the violence…
…UN chief emergency relief coordinator (stingy Americans) Jan Egeland said at a press briefing last month that “the world believes that we keep people alive and then they don’t have to take political and security action. This is wrong and that’s why we are really tired of being that kind of substitute for political and security action.”
The number of people affected by the conflict is growing every day, he pointed out. Many aid workers in Darfur too have been abducted and killed. Several relief organizations have already withdrawn from Sudan…
More than 50,000 people have died since the crisis in Darfur began early 2003. The violence has driven more than 1.5 million people to refugee camps. At least another 200,000 fled to neighbouring Chad.
