Sudan needs more peacekeepers

2007-02-06 15:03

Washington - A shortage of African peacekeepers probably means that nations of the continent will not be able to provide enough troops to meet the United Nations' target for deployment in Darfur, a state department official said on Monday.

Cameron Hume, who heads the US diplomatic mission in Sudan, said the African Union (AU) probably could deploy no more than 10 000 peacekeepers at any one time in Darfur, compared with a UN goal of 20 000.

Hume's account suggests a potential new source of frustration for governments and private humanitarian groups eager to provide protection and relief for the estimated 2.5 million Darfurians uprooted from their homes in a sectarian conflict that began four years ago this month. Hundreds of thousands of others have died.

According to the private Save Darfur Coalition, refugees who have fled the region "now face starvation, disease, and rape, while those who remain in Darfur risk displacement, torture, and murder".

As Hume described it to reporters, the United Nations (UN) has had difficulty navigating the first - and least demanding - of the three phases of prospective 'hybrid' UN-AU peacekeeping involvement in Darfur.

Of the 185 civilian-military personnel scheduled for deployment in Darfur in the first phase, only about half are actually on duty in the region six weeks after the Sudanese government agreed to it and five months after the UN Security Council authorised it.

'Sudan is difficult'

The second phase calls for 2 500 troops who would lay the groundwork for the arrival of the remaining forces due to be sent as part of Phase 3.

"Darfur is logistically very difficult," Cameron said. "It's the place in Africa furthest from the sea. There is a lack of transportation there. So if you're going to put 3 000 people there, you have to also drill wells to get water, (and provide) beds, food, whatever," he said.

Under optimistic estimates, he said, Phase 2 will not be completed until the end of June.

Complicating matters, Hume said, Somalia also needs peacekeepers to maintain an uneasy peace, thus reducing the African troop supply available for duty in Darfur, he said.

Between the two countries, "I think that you're talking about more than 10 000 troops. You're going to be banging up against a practical limitation."

- AP