By Rory Watson - 19th September 2004
The EU is stepping up international pressure on the Sudanese government to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Inter-ethnic conflict has led to the deaths of at least 30,000 people and forced over one million refugees to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere in the country or in neighbouring Chad over the past 18 months.
Europe's 25 governments and the European Parliament are now aiming to impose targeted sanctions against Sudan, while expressing strong political support to the African Union which, the EU insists, must lead the efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
Graphic accounts of the danger and hardships hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians face every day were presented to the European Parliament by a six-woman fact-finding mission which had just returned from the area.
"Emotionally Charged Debate"
The importance that the EU is now attaching to resolving the conflict was demonstrated by the fact that the visit was the first overseas delegation of MEPs despatched by the parliament since it was newly elected in June.
In an emotionally charged debate in Strasbourg, Czech Christian Democrat MEP Jana Hybášková, a former ambassador to Kuwait and a member of the mission, reported that the security situation was "alarming", the political situation "unchanged" and that the few slight improvements that the Sudanese government had taken had been forced on it by international pressure.
Failure to take effective action now could pile up even worse problems in the future, she warned, pointing out that half of the thousands of people now living in makeshift camps were under 15.
With no future ahead of them, and no prospect of returning to their homes she feared that this new group of deprived individuals could be drawn towards fundamentalism and extremism.
Genocide
Increasingly, those who have witnessed the plight of the refugees are agreeing with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and describing it as genocide.
Glenys Kinnock, a British Labour member of the delegation told MEPs: "Everyone I saw both in Sudan and Chad confirmed that this is genocide. I believe it is coordinated action against the African population of Darfur".
EU governments appear to be coming to the same conclusion.
Just 24 hours before the parliament debated what steps to take to bring peace and order to the tragic region, EU foreign ministers had agreed their own plan of action.
This included a request for the UN Security Council to establish as soon as possible an international commission of inquiry.
This would immediately investigate all violations of human rights and also "determine whether acts of genocide have occurred".
But some are cautioning that debate on whether genocide is taking place or not should not detract from the practical measures the EU can take to provide aid to refugees and create a climate in which they can return home in safety.
Newly-elected British Liberal member, Fiona Hall, argued that emphasis should be placed on supporting efforts to promote peace negotiations.
"If we fail to be practical in this crisis, then we will let down the million plus Sudanese who are dependent upon us for their survival," she said.
Luisa Morgantini, the Italian United Left member who led the parliamentary delegation, believes the Union should keep the door open for political negotiations and closely follow the Abuja peace process.
"We should also do as much as we can to alleviate the tragedy and give aid to the African Union," she added.
EU Aid
The EU is already the largest humanitarian aid donor to Darfur working closely with organisations such as Ireland's GOAL, the Spanish Red Cross and OXFAM.
In addition to food, it provides practical equipment - jerry cans, wood and plastic sheeting - for the refugee camps, finances health care and helps to overcome the logistical problems of moving supplies around the dangerous countryside.
It is not just the political instability which hampers aid efforts. The arrival of the rainy season has also made it impossible to reach some areas. Greta Hopkins, an ECHO press officer recently visited Darfur on a fact-finding mission.
"We know that there are large groups of displaced people being covered by the aid. But we are still concerned that there are a lot of people who do not have access to humanitarian assistance.
"And that is not due to an absence of funding, but to other reasons," she explains.
Poul Nielsen, EU development commissioner, told the European Parliament last week that humanitarian aid could still not reach some 40 percent of the affected population.
He pointed to the day-to-day obstacles hampering relief operations.
"We face persistent administrative blockages from the government of Sudan and additional logistical problems which take up 25 percent of the financial assistance," he said.
The Union has so far set aside €105 million in aid for Darfur and the Commission is due to approve a further aid package before the end of the year.
ECHO's presence on the ground will soon be strengthened with the opening of technical offices in Darfur and neighbouring Chad which has taken in over 200,000 refugees since the violent conflict began in early 2003.
Tackling the ongoing crisis will be one of the top priorities facing Louis Michel, the former Belgian foreign minister, when he takes over from Nielsen at the beginning of November.
Already there are suggestions that Michel will display the commission's commitment to providing humanitarian aid, which experts maintain will be needed for at least a further year in even the best case scenario, by making an early visit to the region himself.
This article was first published in Issue 188 of Parliament Magazine
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