New poll calls for EU peacekeeping action in Congo

By Martin Banks - 17th December 2008

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A new poll shows that the majority of people in Sweden, Spain and Germany support sending European peackeepers to Congo.

The results of the YouGov/Avaaz survey comes in the wake of the EU’s controversial refusal to send in soldiers to bolster UN troops in eastern Congo.

According to a leaked letter from the UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon the EU decision could have scuppered the last chance of averting a humanitarian disaster in the country.

In Spain, 57 per cent of those surveyed in the poll support deploying Spanish troops to Congo as part of a European contingent and only 18 per cent were opposed.

In Sweden, 51 per cent were in favour and 25 per cent opposed while in Germany, the figures were 50 and 33 per cent respectively.

Ricken Patel, executive director of Avaaz, the global web movement, said, “The results clearly show that EU citizens are way ahead of their governments in believing that the deployment of European peacekeepers is the only way to protect Congo’s civilians.”

The letter from Ban said that it will take up to four months for the UN reinforcements to arrive in the beleaguered central African country where 250,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting and many do not have access to food or shelter.

The letter illustrates the UN's dismay at Europe's lack of support for the peacekeeping force. It refers to the 'near total disintegration' of the Congolese armed forces and requests a 'bridging arrangement' from the EU to create space for diplomacy and peace talk to continue.

It was written before last week’s EU summit at which Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, argued that any action in eastern Congo should be left to the UN and that Britain would not be sending troops.

EU leaders had previously denied they had been explicitly asked for a 'bridging force' and insisted UN reinforcements could arrive within two months.

Charities and NGOs expressed frustration at the delays. 'We have had a month of every possible excuse as to why Europe will not send forces to bolster UN peacekeepers in Congo,' said an Oxfam spokesman.

“The plea from Ban Ki-moon demolishes those excuses and underlines the utter urgency for a rapid deployment of a European force to help protect civilians.”

Human Rights Watch also urged the EU to send a bridging force to help UN peacekeepers stop attacks on civilians.

In a report released last week by the US watchdog, it said the UN's 17,000-strong force in Congo had been unable to stop a massacre at the village of Kiwanja last month.

Last weekend there were further reports of atrocities at two displaced person camps at Kibati, three miles outside the city of Goma.