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NEWS STORY
April 20, 2008 Five years is a lifetime of conflict for children in the strife-torn region of Darfur, writes Colm O’Gorman. After five years of conflict in Darfur, Sudan, children are reaching school-going age without ever knowing peace. An entire generation of young Darfuris are growing up in extreme fear and insecurity. Of the four million people affected by the conflict in Darfur, 1.8 million are children under 18. Of the 2.3 million people who have been displaced, one million are children. Since April 2006, the conflict has created 120,000 newly displaced children. Many of the children living in refugee camps are traumatised by what they have experienced. Children outside the camps live in constant fear of attacks on their villages. All the children are facing an uncertain future, and some have been recruited to serve as child soldiers. The climate of fear, allied to rising domestic and sexual violence and uncertainty, are compromising their security. The lack of access to education, meanwhile, is jeopardising their future. In January, Amnesty International released a report, Displaced in Darfur - A Generation of Anger. It examined the problems faced by Darfuris living in more than 65 camps for internally-displaced persons, especially those of children and young people. These camps are awash with guns, some of which are available for as little as $25. The deployment of the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (Unamid) in December might have led some people to believe that the crisis in Darfur had abated. Recent developments in Tibet and Zimbabwe, as well as the ongoing controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics torch relay, have seen the focus of the world’s attention move away from the conflict. Yet only weeks ago, Sudanese forces and government-backed militias attacked villages in west Darfur. In the aftermath of these attacks, 800 children aged between 12 and 18 years disappeared. Their whereabouts remain unknown. Public action is essential to ensure that the Unamid peacekeeping force is working effectively to protect children, and that global attention remains focused on Darfur. But obstructions to the effective deployment of Unamid by the Sudanese government have continued. On January 7,Sudanese government forces fired at a Unamid supply convoy in north Darfur, severely injuring a driver. The Unamid force does not have what it needs to protect civilians. Violence has resumed in many areas, especially in west Darfur, where the Sudanese army recently carried out attacks in the towns of Sirba, Abu Suruj, Silea and Jebel Moon. Thousands of civilians fled and more than 100 people, nearly all believed to be civilians, were killed. The UN Security Council must ensure that Unamid is able to fulfil its mandate. The Security Council needs to find solutions to the shortage of helicopters, apply pressure on the Sudanese government to cooperate with Unamid, and e n sure that sufficient well-resourced and trained troops are deployed. This should now be considered a priority. The Security Council should not accept the possibility of failure in Darfur because of inadequate resources - Unamid should be provided with the means to protect civilians and humanitarian convoys. The force should already be playing a wider role in protecting the camps for internally displaced persons. Most of the human rights violations against the inhabitants of the camps take place when they leave to collect firewood or go to market. Prior to the deployment of Unamid, the African Union force was often only able to go on one patrol a day to protect these people. Unamid’s average number of daily patrols last January, though still insufficient, was 16.With 65 camps and 32 Unamid team sites in Darfur, there should be no fewer than 32 patrols a day. As the world focuses on the Beijing Olympics later this year, attention must also be paid to the role of China in arming Sudanese armed forces and their allied militia. These weapons have been used for grave human rights abuses and war crimes. In Darfur, the weapons and munitions obtained from China are used to carry out mass forced displacements and killings. Chinese helicopters and Fantan fighter planes are still deployed in Darfur, despite UN Security Council resolutions imposing an arms embargo. Only in the last year, in response to intense international pressure, has China begun to take some positive action, appointing a special envoy on Darfur and exerting pressure on Sudan to accept Unamid. Amnesty International calls on China immediately to suspend arms transfers to Sudan, as long as these weapons are used in Darfur. China must also put pressure on the Sudanese government to respect human rights and facilitate Unamid’s effective deployment in Darfur. Ireland can also play a role. We call on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in his address to the US Congress on April 30, to urge the US administration to exert diplomatic pressure on Sudan. Colm O’Gorman is the executive director of Amnesty International Irish Section, www.amnesty.ie
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