MEPs join Tutu in condemning 'lack of action' on Darfur

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has urged the EU “not to give up” on the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, the Nobel Peace prize winner thanked MEPs for not succumbing to what he referred to as "Afro-pessimism".

After a day of talks, he said the EU should make two “key” demands to Sudan.

One is to allow “unimpeded access” into Darfur both for UN forces and for humanitarian aid. The other to disarm the Janjaweed militia.

Tutu was in Brussels for a meeting with parliament’s conference of presidents – leaders of the assembly’s political groups.

He said he “wholeheartedly” supports the imposition, “in the face of intransigence”, of specific, targeted sanctions against Khartoum.

“As well as these two key demands, Omar al-Bashir’s government should be given a non-negotiable deadline for these conditions to be met.

“If it complies, sanctions would be suspended. Let us not give up that change can happen in Khartoum.”

Responding to his comments, Irish EPP-ED deputy Simon Coveney expressed anger with the “lack of EU action” in Darfur.

Four years into the crisis, he said, “we still hear that it is time to do something.

“By doing nothing, however, we share some of the blame.”

More than 200,000 people have died in the conflict and two million have fled their homes.

Sudan’s government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against the region’s black African population. The existing African Union peacekeeping force has been unable to stop the conflict.

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