Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-25-Speech-4-239"
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"en.20071025.32.4-239"2
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".
Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, after losing ten men in the raid at Haskanita, the head of the African Union mission in Darfur, General Martin Luther Agwai, sounded an alarm call, highlighting the fact that his forces were ill-equipped and too few in number, and that they could be defeated in a very short time. There has, as yet, been no change in the situation, and further attacks like that of 29 September remain possible. The General’s alarm call must be heeded by the international community and particularly by the European Union, which could surely issue a powerful appeal for effective joint action by all the Member States involved in providing the promised EU support.
In two days’ time, important talks are to take place in Libya between the Sudanese Government and various rebel forces. It is still unclear whether Abdel el-Nur – the founder of the Sudan Liberation Army, now exiled in France – will take part in these talks. Indeed, there is just as much uncertainty about other figures representing the array of rebel forces, for their numbers change from one day to the next. Be that as it may, we have to prioritise these discussions, which have the potential to produce a ceasefire. So once again we would ask the European Union authorities to spread the word as widely as possible about the importance of the meeting and about Europe’s intention to support any positive developments that may come out of it, both militarily and in relation to improving conditions for aid workers, who are operating in a particularly difficult situation.
I would also remind you that the Government in Khartoum, through its actions thus far, bears a huge share of responsibility for today’s tragic situation – and not only because it has supported the Janjaweed militias bringing death and terror to black African communities. It was also the Government that categorically refused, for months, to accept the presence of a Western force in Sudan. It was also the Government that made it impossible for journalists and foreign observers to gain access to the most troubled regions, even though their work there could make a major contribution to the ongoing mobilisation of international public opinion. That mobilisation is clearly needed if we are to ensure that all of us in Europe shoulder our responsibilities in combating what must be recognised as nothing short of genocide.
Another important point is that the new European force, due to deploy in eastern Chad and the north of the Central African Republic, will make it harder for the rebels to move freely across the borders with those countries and to pursue their policy of recruiting fighters, willing or otherwise, from refugees’ and displaced persons’ camps. Anticipating this obstacle to their activities, some armed groups are already turning their attention to the other side of Darfur, to the neighbouring region of Kordofan, to which Haskanita is a gateway. Here too, the support the European Union has undertaken to provide may prove very useful, although within a short time it may also prove quite inadequate.
It is thus part of our task to continue doggedly doing what we can to bring about political conditions in which European intervention will be effective. Surely we have seen enough violence and heartbreak in this region of the world? Not only have hundreds of thousands of lives already been lost, but the social fabric of Darfur is also being utterly devastated, so the task of reconstruction becomes more problematic from day to day."@en1
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