CSM backs tougher government action on Darfur
-29/09/06
The Christian Socialist Moveme
CSM backs tougher government action on Darfur
-29/09/06
The Christian Socialist Movement, a group affiliated to the Labour Party, used the partyís conference in Manchester (which ended on Wednesday) to make its voice known on Darfur.
CSM says it backs the UK government’s actions to help end the crisis there. The Blair administration has been assisting in negotiations, has campaigned for sanctions and increased aid to the area.
But Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof said the international community, including Britain, should do much more.
Before arriving in Manchester, Geldof launched an excoriating attack on China and other major powers, accusing them of perpetuating death and destruction in Darfur. He said Beijing was still arming the Sudanese government, which is refusing to allow United Nations peacekeepers to enter the country while it carries out military operations against rebels.
The Christian Socialists seconded a plenary Labour Conference resolution on the region on 26 September 2006. The next day, CSM delegate David Canning questioned Bob Geldof, Gordon Brown, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, and Monica Naggaga, Oxfam policy coordinator, about the issue from the conference floor.
MEP Glenys Kinnock has also called for the urgent imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur to help halt the worsening humanitarian crisis in the region. She joined fellow Euro-MPs in backing a cross-party resolution urging the Government of Sudan to allow a UN peacekeeping force into Darfur.
Speaking in Strasbourg , Kinnock declared: “There have been 13 UN resolutions on Darfur yet the no-fly zone has still not been enforced. As I speak, Sudanese Antanov planes carrying bombs are flying over the region. We must act. If it was considered important enough to enforce a no-fly zone in Kosovo and Bosnia, why not in Darfur? The European Council must immediately call for the imposition of the no-fly zone.î
She added: “Already up to 450,000 people have been killed, three million displaced and 90 per cent of black African villages destroyed. Access for humanitarian aid is now at its lowest level for years. We cannot allow this situation to continue.”
The European Parliament resolution says Sudan has failed in its responsibility to protect its own people and is therefore obliged to accept a UN force.
Mr Geldof insisted the world was now “slow stepping into watching two million people die in front of us on the six o’clock news every night”.
But some church, peace and development groups are concerned that foreign troops could inflame the situation further ñ and lament the lack of nonviolent initiatives.
Some 200,000 people are believed to have died in Darfur and violence has continued despite the signing of a peace treaty earlier this year, enforced by African Union troops.
[Also on Ekklesia: Welcome for extension of the African Union force in Darfur 22/09/06; Protestors around the world plead for intervention in Darfur 18/09/06; Campaigners gear up for Global Day for Darfur 14/09/06; Churches call for decisive Darfur peacekeeping action 23/08/06; Aid agencies seek an end to tragic Darfur violence 20/07/06; Darfur development workers kidnapped as situation worsens; Churches urge Sudan government to end hostilities; Global appeal to churches on fragile Sudan peace process; Christian aid partners address UN over Sudan; Catholic aid agency appeals to PM over Sudan; Protests as Egypt vows to expel hundreds of Sudanese refugees; Christian aid agencies unite for Sudan; Christians arrested during Washington protest over Sudan]
CSM backs tougher government action on Darfur
-29/09/06
The Christian Socialist Movement, a group affiliated to the Labour Party, used the partyís conference in Manchester (which ended on Wednesday) to make its voice known on Darfur.
CSM says it backs the UK government’s actions to help end the crisis there. The Blair administration has been assisting in negotiations, has campaigned for sanctions and increased aid to the area.
But Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof said the international community, including Britain, should do much more.
Before arriving in Manchester, Geldof launched an excoriating attack on China and other major powers, accusing them of perpetuating death and destruction in Darfur. He said Beijing was still arming the Sudanese government, which is refusing to allow United Nations peacekeepers to enter the country while it carries out military operations against rebels.
The Christian Socialists seconded a plenary Labour Conference resolution on the region on 26 September 2006. The next day, CSM delegate David Canning questioned Bob Geldof, Gordon Brown, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, and Monica Naggaga, Oxfam policy coordinator, about the issue from the conference floor.
MEP Glenys Kinnock has also called for the urgent imposition of a no-fly zone over Darfur to help halt the worsening humanitarian crisis in the region. She joined fellow Euro-MPs in backing a cross-party resolution urging the Government of Sudan to allow a UN peacekeeping force into Darfur.
Speaking in Strasbourg , Kinnock declared: “There have been 13 UN resolutions on Darfur yet the no-fly zone has still not been enforced. As I speak, Sudanese Antanov planes carrying bombs are flying over the region. We must act. If it was considered important enough to enforce a no-fly zone in Kosovo and Bosnia, why not in Darfur? The European Council must immediately call for the imposition of the no-fly zone.î
She added: “Already up to 450,000 people have been killed, three million displaced and 90 per cent of black African villages destroyed. Access for humanitarian aid is now at its lowest level for years. We cannot allow this situation to continue.”
The European Parliament resolution says Sudan has failed in its responsibility to protect its own people and is therefore obliged to accept a UN force.
Mr Geldof insisted the world was now “slow stepping into watching two million people die in front of us on the six o’clock news every night”.
But some church, peace and development groups are concerned that foreign troops could inflame the situation further ñ and lament the lack of nonviolent initiatives.
Some 200,000 people are believed to have died in Darfur and violence has continued despite the signing of a peace treaty earlier this year, enforced by African Union troops.
[Also on Ekklesia: Welcome for extension of the African Union force in Darfur 22/09/06; Protestors around the world plead for intervention in Darfur 18/09/06; Campaigners gear up for Global Day for Darfur 14/09/06; Churches call for decisive Darfur peacekeeping action 23/08/06; Aid agencies seek an end to tragic Darfur violence 20/07/06; Darfur development workers kidnapped as situation worsens; Churches urge Sudan government to end hostilities; Global appeal to churches on fragile Sudan peace process; Christian aid partners address UN over Sudan; Catholic aid agency appeals to PM over Sudan; Protests as Egypt vows to expel hundreds of Sudanese refugees; Christian aid agencies unite for Sudan; Christians arrested during Washington protest over Sudan]