U.S. and European Media

November 9, 2022

Associated Press: Sudan Defends Expulsion of UN Official. The U.N. humanitarian director was ordered to leave south Darfur because he was discouraging civilians displaced by violence from returning to their villages, Sudan's justice minister said Thursday. Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi praised the decision by the governor of south Darfur to expel Wael Al-Haj Ibrahim, saying there was sufficient evidence that the U.N. official was urging civilians to stay in refugee camps. U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the order was a serious concern because OCHA, ''plays a pivotal role in South Darfur.'' OCHA spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said the matter was being taken up with the central government. Sudan's government has stepped up pressure on Darfurians to leave refugee camps. Sudanese officials insist they are not forcing anyone to leave, but want to encourage refugees to return to their villages because the camps have become too big, squalid and dangerous. But late last month, U.N. officials said they had evidence that Sudanese government forces were chasing the refugees out of at least one camp, Otash, home to 60,000 people on the outskirts of Nyala. The Aegis Trust, a British-based organization which works to prevent genocide and has offices in Africa, said the U.N. was warned by the governor last week that if U.N. officials opposed the dismantling of camps, he would ensure that those officials were expelled. 

Agence France-Presse: Austrian Parliament OKs 160 Troops For Mission In Chad. Austria will send 160 troops to Chad as part of a humanitarian European Union mission to protect refugees from neighboring Darfur after receiving a green light from parliament on Friday. The two parties in government, the Social Democrats and the conservative People's Party, backed the motion, while the opposition Greens and two far-right parties voted against it, a parliament spokeswoman said.  Defense Minister Norbert Darabos told the press Tuesday that Austria would send a first contingent to Chad in the next few weeks. They will be part of a European peacekeeping force of about 4,000 troops, who will help monitor camps for Darfur refugees and internally displaced persons in Chad and the Central African Republic, which border Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region. They will be supporting the U.N. police already on the ground.  The Austrian contingent is expected initially to remain in the region until June 30, 2008. According to the U.N., some 236,000 Darfur refugees have fled to Chad to escape the fighting in Sudan's war-ravaged region.

The Washington Post: Doing His Part (and More) for Darfur. Inevitably, after every book talk or public rally to raise awareness about the atrocities in Darfur, someone will approach Don Cheadle and say, "Yes, but what can I do?" His answer is always the same. "I don't know. What can you do?" He isn't being callous. The point is that people have to answer that question for themselves. Just as Cheadle did. That's what he's doing: making sure people know. "Darfur Now," a new documentary by director Ted Braun, follows Cheadle and five others around the world who are doing something to rail against the Sudanese crisis. Darfur rallies can attract tens of thousands of people, and relief efforts have been organized throughout the world. It's progress, Cheadle said, but the fact is, the suffering continues. "I think we are seeing things move . . . but I know it's definitely not happening fast enough for people sitting in camps, you know, eating less than 300 calories a day, under the sun and wind," he says. So when he volleys the question and says, "I don't know. What can you do?" Cheadle expects an answer. " 'Cause that question," he says, "is not asked by many people who've actually tried to do something."  

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