West Sudan: 650,000 people cut off from life-saving help

The Society for Threatened Peoples warned on Thursday of a new humanitarian catastrophe in the West of the Sudan, since the safety of the 11,000 international helpers can according to the information of the United Nations (UN) in many parts of Darfur no longer be guaranteed. "Some 650,000 people suffering in refugee camps in the West and South of Darfur are cut off from the outside world and left to their own resources” warned the GfbV Sudan expert Ulrich Delius. Because of the increase in attacks two thirds of Darfur had to be closed to humanitarian aid workers on Wednesday.

"The European Union is doing too little to stop the violence in Darfur” criticised Delius. ”Apart from many words and expressions of condolence there are no concrete initiatives to stop this genocide.” When the EU official for foreign and security matters, Javier Solana, visited the Sudan last week any hopes were dashed of seeing new European initiatives for stopping the splitting up of the rebel movements in Darfur, which is encouraged by the Sudanese government. It is not enough for Solana to continue reiterating the importance of peace talks. The EU must bring the rebels to the table to make sure that they speak with one voice. This is the only way of ensuring that the peace talks have a chance of success.

Khartoum uses the rivalries among the ethnic groups in Darfur skilfully to stir up the various resistance movements against one another. So violence it is being incited not only the in the west of the Sudan. The peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja could also fail. These policies have a tradition in the Sudan. A small power elite in Khartoum has fanned the conflicts between the ethnic groups in a country consisting of many peoples with the express purpose over the past 50 years of securing their own rule. More than three million South Sudanese and Nuba have had to pay for these inhuman policies with their own lives. "The EU must do more to beak through this vicious circle of violence and prevent the deaths of further tens of thousands of people in Darfur” said Delius.