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29/05/2004: "Even in self-interest, help!"
On this International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, I can only think of Sudan...
In Darfur, aid workers predict that besides the 1.2m displaced and 30'000 killed, between 150,000 and 350,000 people will die in the next nine months from hunger and disease if Sudan’s government does not stop hindering relief efforts. Darfur is now probably the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. This alone should merit the rich world’s attention. But the West’s self-interest is also at stake, given that Sudan is now exporting the kind of chaos that could provide cover for al-Qaeda and its supporters.
It was a combination of exhaustion and western pressure that persuaded Khartoum to make peace with the south. More pressure could help pacify Darfur, in the west. The first priority is to get aid to the displaced, to prevent them from starving. But there also needs to be a proper ceasefire, monitored by the United Nations’ blue helmets. Khartoum could be rewarded with aid if it reins in its militia and addresses the grievances of the rebels there; sanctions could be applied if it does not.
For an understanding of the roots of the conflicts, read Darfur's long shadow (Economist).
