Oxfam calls for action as Blair visits Sudan
Tony Blair will land in Sudan today for talks with the government, with charities urging him to transfer words into action.
The UN estimates that more than 50,000 people, mainly black Africans, have been killed in the last 19 months, with a further 1.4 million forced to flee their homes by the pro-government Janjaweed Arab militias.
It describes the situation as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and it has been repeatedly discussed by the UN Security Council. No sanctions have yet been imposed, with the focus being on more peacekeeping troops from the African Union in the region.
There are currently only around 300 troops in the region, whose chief remit is to protect the ceasefire monitors, though this is due to be increased to 5000.
The Prime Minister will visit the region today as part of his visit to Africa, and will meet Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail. He is expected to call on the Sudanese government to take action against the militias.
Aid agency Oxfam, is calling on the Prime Minister to ensure that the Sudanese promises are turned into “concrete action.”
It warns that the situation is not improving, with “daily” atrocities and “women and girls are increasingly subjected to extreme forms of harassment and violence, including beating, whipping, abduction and rape”.
Director of Oxfam Barbara Stocking, said: “We welcome Tony Blair’s visit as a sign of the British government’s commitment to end the violence in Darfur. While this short trip alone will not directly save lives, the Prime Minister can help thousands by shifting British policy up a gear.
“We urge Tony Blair to do all he can to ensure thousands more African Union personnel are deployed to Darfur this month. This concrete action will directly help stop the violence against civilians. Mr Blair should make Darfur a personal priority and pull out all the stops to encourage all sides to end the violence. Mr Blair’s intervention must be immediate but it must also be sustained.”
