Report on Darfur
From the land of Great Britain comes this report which criticises the international community including Britain for its feeble response to the Darfur crisis in Sudan. The report was drafted by a committee made up of MPs who said the international community were too engrossed in securing an end to the Sudanese civil war between the government and the rebel South to pay much attention to the developing Darfur crisis. Though ending the decades-long civil war was important, ignoring the situation in Darfur has allowed it to escalate to the point where at least 2 million people have been made refugees and over 150,000 killed. Blame was not just cast on the UN, Britain and other governments but also Sudan itself.
Urgent action by Britain and other developed nations is being called for especially as the Darfur crisis is in danger of becoming history repeated, specifically the Rwanda genocide and inspite of the many obstacles to intervention. Skeptics can say why should Europeans and Americans (though with their actions of this milennium who can really trust them with intervening in another country) take the responsibility to go into a distant and poverty and war-stricken country to improve matters, and it's a valid point. However there is just a small matter of these Europeans specifically Britain, being the former masters and rulers of some of these distant, chaotic countries like Rwanda and so are responsible in some measure for the situation in these countries such as ethnic and religious tension and inequality.
Intervention does not necessarily mean armed invasion and occupation like what happened to Iraq but less or non-violent means like aerial surveillance and establishing protected zones for refugee camps and settlements as well providing more aid to the African Union which has cease-fire observers and a small force of 3000 soldiers in Darfur.
Information on the Sudan (2nd) civil war which was recently ended officially with an agreement between the government and the SPLA (Sudanese People's Liberation Army).
