Darfur: Tears are not enough

David Kilgour, MP Edmonton Mill Woods - Beaumont

Toronto Star, May 16, 2005

Opinion

David Kilgour demands Canada do much more to stop Sudan slaughter


The situation in Darfur, and now in other areas of Sudan, is not getting any better; in fact, it's getting worse. This is not something that will simply go away if we ignore it long enough. We have to remind ourselves constantly of the horrors that Darfur citizens face daily; the girls and women being raped, the 4,000 citizens dying every week.

To understand what Canada could be doing, it's important to know what we have already committed to Sudan.

Since 2000, Canada, through CIDA, has contributed $180 million in food and humanitarian aid to Sudan — the country with the world's largest number of internally displaced people at more than 4 million and with more than 500,000 refugees in the bordering countries.

This translates to less than $10 per refugee or internally displaced person per year. Compare that to the $425 million allocated to tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts.

This does not include the $200 million CIDA will match in public donations.

Canada has nearly 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, and yet we continue to send more. I was surprised to find out that we have more troops in Florida — six — than in the whole of Sudan — where there are just five CF personnel in Khartoum. In the last four years, Canada has allocated nearly $400 million to Afghanistan, and promises $250 million more in the next four years. We sent roughly 1,000 troops to Bosnia and nearly 1,400 to Kosovo to stop the mass murders and rapes. In fact, there are still roughly 80 troops in Bosnia — more than what the Prime Minister announced for Darfur last Thursday.

The survivors of the tsunami and the Afghan people working so hard to rebuild their country need and deserve aid. But we have to ask why it is that when faced with genocide and a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions in Africa, there doesn't seem to be nearly as much money available?

The answer to that question lies in what can be called a lack of political will, rooted in a number of areas, among them: our ignorance of the complexities and sophisticated nature of African dictatorships, our fear of sending troops to so-called "tribal" wars in Africa and — as even Roméo Dallaire has pointed out many times — blatant racism on the West and Canada's part.

What we need is the kind of operation Dallaire has called for in the past; tens of thousands of troops of Atlantic Alliance quality, with a robust mandate to protect civilians and humanitarian operations. He has said many times that "the AU is being set up for failure."

Canada should act on recommendations by Ottawa Professor Errol Mendes. He has called on Prime Minister Paul Martin to take a leadership role in bringing the international financial institutions and the creditor Paris Club together to discuss how to utilize the debt and arrears levers to force the Khartoum government to negotiate in good faith with rebel groups and disarm the janjaweed.

Canada should put in place travel restrictions on senior officials and pressure the Security Council to insist on a series of sanctions, such as a freeze on all assets of the Khartoum government and companies controlled by it in the European Union, Canada and the United States, withdrawal of any rights of the government in the IMF, and a ban on arms sales to Sudan.

It's unacceptable for Canada to say that we don't want to ask the African Union to pressure the Sudanese government for a stronger mandate, or to offer significant numbers of Canadian troops because the problem must be solved "regionally." I don't know one Sudanese refugee in Canada who thinks the AU can be expected to single-handedly solve one of the most complicated conflicts and humanitarian crises in Africa.

It's an excuse that Canada and the West accept only because the problem is in Africa.

I welcome the Prime Minister's increased aid package to Sudan and financial support for the AU — it's a step in the right direction. But it's not enough.

As nearly 4,000 Darfur residents die every week, Canada, the international community, and the United Nations continue to say to the world that these lives are not worth a substantial intervention.


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David Kilgour is an independent MP and former secretary of state for Africa. This article was co-written by Kilgour's research assistant, Magdalene Creskey, who has worked in community and educational development projects in conflict areas in Southern Africa.