400,000 murdered and 2.5 million at risk, but there’s still no trace of the UN peacekeepers

Statistics, as we know, can be infuriatingly boring. However, in the case of the Darfur tragedy they can be helpful to understand the seriousness of the situation.

At present the UN has deployed 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Sudan and 17,000 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But not a single peacekeeper has been sent to protect the vulnerable in Darfur.

This despite the fact that 400,000 people, mostly women and children, have been murdered in Darfur during the past two years. And 2.5 million lives hang by a slender thread.

Meanwhile, the politicians still insist there is a meaningful role for the UN in the area of protecting those in greatest need.

John O’Shea

GOAL

PO Box 19

Dun Laoghaire

Co Dublin