Chaos is looming in Sudan's western Darfur region as violence increases, order collapses, and the number of desperate people in need of humanitarian aid reaches nearly 2.3 million, according to a U.N. report issued Monday.
This is doubly disappointing because:
The optimism generated by an agreement between the government and two rebel groups on humanitarian and security issues has been overshadowed by the deteriorating security situation in recent weeks, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.
I'm sure the UN was optimistic that it could slide by a little longer without being confronted with the failure of its efforts to reign in slaughter and forced starvation.
But have heart, the UN has documented the deterioration:
The 15-page report details daily attacks, village burnings, rapes, hijackings of relief goods, theft of livestock, the forced movement of thousands of displaced people, and numerous deaths.
And don't think that Annan is oblivious to the problem:
The African Union warned that failure to do so would oblige it to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council, the report said. The council has raised the possibility of sanctions.
That's right. If the Sudanese government doesn't stop killing its own people in Darfur, the possiblity was raised that there might be sanctions imposed! Imagine the audacity of that possible threat of referral to the Security Council! Imagine the impact on the killers!
Of course, we'll need several more reports in two official languages with nice official looking wax stamps and brightly colored ribbons festooning the leather-bound report before we can even consider such a rash act.
Because the situation is deteriorating and the international community is surely concerned. That has to count for a lot. Right?
