Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-10-Speech-2-385"
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"en.20050510.30.2-385"2
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"Mr President, I also support the questions that my colleagues have asked the Commission, which are extremely important in terms of how we deal with the continuing crisis in Sudan, in the North-South negotiations as well as in Darfur.
As Mr Gahler said, Dr Mudawi, a brave defender of human rights in Sudan was once again arrested by the Sudanese Government, by its National Security and Intelligence Agency. He was about to board a plane, ready to go to be presented with an award by the President of Ireland. That is continuing evidence – as if we needed it – of the determination of the Sudanese Government to harass human rights defenders and arbitrarily arrest, without trial, people who have the audacity to speak out. That evidence needs to be taken into account in the attitudes we take in terms of the EUR 4 billion of budgetary spending that has been allocated.
We need to be absolutely clear that we reject and are prepared to speak out about the attitude of the Sudanese Government to anyone who wishes to fight against oppression and for rights and freedoms. The suffering and agony of the Sudanese people demands a renewed and much more determined international effort on their behalf.
What we are talking about in Sudan is the real tragedy of our time. It is the failure of the international community to deal with ethnic cleansing, with mass rape and killings in that country.
I was looking only this morning at recent reports by NGOs about how banditry continues and how the difficulties of delivering humanitarian aid are exacerbated by this situation. The IDPs in Sudan are reporting very clearly to NGOs – and British NGOs are reporting to me – that they are identifying Arab militias that are now being absorbed into the army of the Government of Sudan and trained as soldiers.
The NGOs have reported continuing attacks, again this week, on women collecting firewood. Those women are now so desperate that they are selling part of their food rations in order to buy wood in the markets to try to avoid the attacks they experience as they leave the camps to get firewood.
We understand that ethnic cleansing has virtually now stopped. However, if you ask the African Union, they will tell you that it has largely stopped because ethnic cleansing is largely complete in Darfur.
Two million people are homeless, and they are still being terrorised by the Janjaweed militias. It is estimated that 197 000 people are seeking refuge in the inhospitable deserts of Chad, which we visited last December. Those people have lost everything but are still prepared, in desperation, to leave their country to go to Chad. The desperation of those people in Sudan puts into perspective some of the debates that we have in our countries in Europe about asylum and immigration.
Peacekeeping remains the key issue. The African Union is hopelessly stretched at this time and cannot fulfil its mandate unless we see much more concerted efforts to beef up the military support that they need in that country."@en1
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