EU must pressurise Sudanese, warns Kitt

The European Union must continue to place pressure on the Sudanese government to ensure the people are protected, a minister urged today.

Minister Tom Kitt told the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels that the issues of security and protection for the people of Darfur were of central importance.

The Minister of State for Development said the humanitarian needs of the 1.2 million displaced people must be highlighted.

“The international community must make clear to Khartoum that there will be a price to be paid for failing to deal with the Janjaweed,” Mr Kitt said.

Prolonged attacks by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, have forced 1.2 million people from their homes in Darfur, pushed another 160,000 across the border into neighbouring Chad and left thousands dead.

The Sudan region is now caught up in the rainy season and the displaced people have become vulnerable to starvation and disease.

He briefed the council on his three-day visit from July 15-17 to meet with the Sudanese authorities.

Mr Kitt said he had pushed the point that the government based in the capital Khartoum, some 2,000 miles away from the stricken region in Darfur, had ultimate responsibility for the people.

“I made clear to the Sudanese government that refugee returns had to be on a voluntary basis and that the international community would not tolerate any forced repatriations. The government must make every effort to ensure the security of the civilian population of Darfur,” Mr Kitt said.

Mr Kitt welcomed the EU’s €12m donation to the small African Union peacekeeping force and particularly their ceasefire observer mission.

He said the agreement by ministers to offer to send a civilian and military expert team to the region to assess how the AU observer mission could be helped was a good step.

Mr Kitt said the Irish Government’s recent €3m funding increase to non-government organisations and agencies in the Darfur region, brought the total sent to the crisis-hit west African country to almost €9m.

The UN has said the region is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.