Money continues to flood in to help Darfur refugees

BIG-HEARTED Irish Examiner readers have dug deep once again to help support the work of GOAL in bringing relief to Darfur in western Sudan.

Workplace collections last week brought in an extra €43,000 to add to the €85,000 raised in the first week after the Irish Examiner GOAL appeal was launched.

Combined with individual donations over the past week, the total contributed by readers has reached almost €150,000 and the generosity is continuing.

GOAL chief executive John O’Shea said yesterday the money was needed more than ever with renewed predictions that the number of refugees entering the region will increase before the year is out.

He warned that speed in providing help was vital since, without the protection of armed peace-keepers, aid workers were under an ever-present threat of having to pull out.

The United Nations Security Council met this week to discuss the situation after the one-month deadline passed for the Sudanese government to protect villagers terrorised by the Janjaweed militia.

Although it was agreed that the Khartoum-based administration had failed to comply with UN demands, the council held off acting on threats of international sanctions.

No further progress was made on a proposal to send an armed peace-keeping force into the region either and it is expected the UN will try to get agreement from Sudan to send in a large contingent of military observers to monitor the situation instead.

Mr O’Shea warned: “My big fear for the refugees at the moment is that we will have to run ourselves if the situation gets too dangerous. The problems haven’t eased at all with the only concession from Khartoum being that they are letting more of the likes of us into the region.”

The Irish Examiner GOAL appeal is ongoing and anyone who wants to make a donation can do so online on www.goal.ie, by credit card on 01-2809779 or by sending a cheque to GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.