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November 16, 2007

Darfur future uncertain as peace talks stall

by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International

NYALA (Darfur), Sudan — As peace talks about the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur province remain stalled, humanitarian officials say that the issue of protecting civilians will continue to offer difficult challenges in an increasingly insecure environment.

“The whole protection issue is the killer,” one humanitarian worker said recently before the beginning of peace talks that began in Libya in October but have since been marked by acrimony and the absence of prominent Darfur rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Army.

The SLA says it is boycotting the talks because security cannot yet be guaranteed in Darfur, a region of Sudan in which, by most estimates, 200,000 people have died either from direct violence or due to poor humanitarian conditions.

The crisis in Darfur, a major concern for international faith-based groups and humanitarian agencies, will enter its fifth year in 2008.

In recent interviews, humanitarian workers painted a grim picture in which rebel groups, such as the SLA, are breaking up into factions, creating anarchy on the ground, and causing rising levels of civilian displacement.

This dynamic complicates an already tense situation in which the Sudanese government and allied militias are accused of killing and uprooting civilians. The government denies the charges but has said it is justified in fighting an insurgency that it asserts constitutes a threat to Sudan's national security.

One representative of an international humanitarian agency, who, like others, did not want to be quoted by name, told Ecumenical News International that agencies like his currently, “don’t have much humanitarian space in which to operate.”

Such workers, as well as those people in the camps, are strongly urging that a political settlement be struck soon before further chaos engulfs Darfur.

The humanitarian crisis in the region has caused massive displacements. The United Nations estimates that roughly one third of Darfur’s 6.4 million population has been uprooted since 2003.

Also of concern to those working in the area is whether the promised “hybrid” force of 26,000 United Nations and African Union peacekeeping troops will have much effect, given spreading violence and the immense size of Darfur, which is roughly equal to that of France.

The UN/AU force is scheduled to be deployed in early 2008 but U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno warned on Nov. 14 that it could fail unless disputes with Sudan over the make-up of the force are resolved, and key specialized units found.

Officials have also said too much hope is being placed on the ability of the peace-keeping forces to maintain security, and have urged that a comprehensive peace agreement to ease tensions in Darfur be made a top priority.

“There are expectations on the ground but I foresee disappointment,” given the current difficult security realities, another humanitarian worker said in an interview.

The concerns of humanitarian agencies have been echoed by officials such as the U.N. envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson. In an interview in early November with the BBC, he said he was optimistic that peace talks would eventually succeed but warned of the consequences if they were left to collapse. He said it was imperative that the international community not let this happen.

“I have seen myself the desperation, the anger, the frustration in the camps. I have seen also the beginning of tribal battles, fighting over land,” said Eliasson, a Swedish diplomat. “And all these factors lead me to the conclusion that we have to now really take advantage of the beginning of a political process.”