Call for UN to take over in Darfur from African Union

Mon 14 Nov 2005
ROB CRILLY IN TAWILLA, NORTH DARFUR

THE United Nations should take over responsibility for peacekeeping in Sudan's western region of Darfur because African Union troops are not up to the job, according to a report by a humanitarian watchdog.

Refugees International said the AU lacked the resources to monitor an often-ignored ceasefire and has been unable to prevent the area sliding further into anarchy.


"With the recent upsurge in violence over the past two months, the AU's shortcomings have come into full focus. The AU is hobbled by a weak mandate, too few weapons and fewer than 7,000 troops to cover an area the size of Texas," the report said. It calls on donor countries to provide more weaponry to the AU mission and on the UN to step in.

In two and a half years of conflict between government-backed militias and Darfur rebels, two million people have been forced to shelter in camps; an estimated 180,000 have died.

The AU deployed its mission last year partly in response to UN calls for an "African response for an African problem".

But 15 months after their arrival, Darfur is in flames again. In north Darfur, thousands of people have been forced from their villages in recent weeks as Janjaweed militia and government troops flex their muscles.

And the AU force has itself become a target. Five Nigerian soldiers and two civilian contractors were killed as they tried to intervene in an attack last month.

Senior officers say morale is low. "We came here to monitor and now we find ourselves ducking bullets," said one general. "It seems the warring parties no longer recognise us."

Their concerns are matched by international observers. Nicki Bennett, spokeswoman for Oxfam in Sudan, said: "The African Union Mission in Sudan is at a critical turning point: if it does not receive the financial and logistical means to fully implement its mandate and take its troops to their full strength, the international community is setting the AU up for failure and turning its back on Darfur."

Nowhere is the AU's limited ability to protect civilians more obvious than the village of Tawilla, in north Darfur. When nine government landcruisers, mounted with 12.7mm canon, arrived, the villagers knew the AU soldiers stationed nearby would not come to the rescue. They ran to the gates of the AU base, where they hoped the 241 Rwandan troops would not turn them away.

After a tense stand-off, the Sudanese government soldiers gave up and went home, but not before they had killed four people in the village and burned dozens of flimsy homes, according to confidential AU reports.

Fatima Mohamed Adam, who now lives on the outskirts of the AU base with her five children and many other villagers, said: " We have no confidence now in the government, but we believe that being near the African Union we will be safe."

Baba Kingibe, the AU special representative, said: "What we can do depends on the co-operation and willingness of the parties. If they decide not to abide by their commitment, then there is a limit to what we can do, given our mandate and our means."

source: scotsman.com