Darfur: Returning to Hell

Floor Speech

Darfur: Returning to Hell

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, 3 months after the United Nations took over peacekeeping and joined forces with African Union peace keepers, the situation in Darfur has entered a new and deadly phase of conflict. There has been an upsurge of violence in western Darfur, and the Sudanese government launched an offensive at the beginning of February. A number of villages have been bombed by government planes, and there have been ground attacks by the Sudanese army and its allies, the Janjaweed militias. According to the United Nations, more than 100 people have been killed and thousands more left homeless.

A March 12 article in the UK Independent describes recent events in Darfur as "a return to hell,'' with another "scorched earth policy'' being unleashed by the Sudanese government, reminiscent of the worst waves of government-backed violence 5 years ago, actions that led the United States to declare what was happening in Darfur as genocide.

Darfur is home to the world's largest humanitarian operation, but the World Food Program reports that 45 of its trucks have been hijacked already this year. WFP now transports about half as much food into Darfur as it normally would.

Tensions also run high between neighboring Chad and Sudan, and eastern Chad is receiving a new influx of refugees from Darfur at a time when Chad itself is facing instability and displacement.

The new commander of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force said it would not be fully deployed until the end of this year, possibly not until the beginning of 2009. The peacekeeping mission, which is supposed to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers, currently has only about 9,000 soldiers on the ground.

The Sudanese government, President Al-Bashir, is defying the world. The government is blocking new deployments of U.N. peacekeepers at every turn, vetoing non-African troops, blocking supplies, and refusing to provide land for bases.

But the international community is also to blame for the obstacles confronting the peacekeeping mission. Nations have failed to make good on their pledges of support, from soldiers to equipment to funds. The mission requires 18 troop-carrying helicopters and six armored attack helicopters. So far, they have none. U.N. officials say they could have responded to last month's attack if they had the right equipment.

Mr. Speaker, why haven't the United States and our Western European allies provided these helicopters to the U.N.-AU peacekeeping mission? Why aren't we working collectively and with Russia and China to make sure this force has the helicopters, equipment, manpower and funding necessary to protect the people in Darfur and the refugees? Why hasn't the U.N. Security Council called an emergency session and targeted new sanctions at Sudan's highest
officials, including President Bashir? Why isn't the international community working together to make sure peacekeeping missions are fully equipped and deployed to eastern Chad and the Central African Republic? Why haven't we lived up to our word to stop the genocide in Darfur?

Mr. Speaker, words are not enough. It is action that is needed. And while we remain silent, while we refrain from taking action and fulfilling our promises, women and children are raped. Homes are being looted. Villages are being burned to the ground. People are dying of hunger and exposure.

Darfur is returning to hell.

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