UN Security Council members focus on Darfur crisis

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, western Sudan, dominated questions and comments from members of the UN Security Council following a briefing on Thursday by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, on the situation of refugees in Africa and in other parts of the world. In a statement issued from New York, the council reported that Lubbers detailed efforts by his office to assist the affected populations in Darfur, where an estimated one million people have been displaced in a conflict between Sudanese government-allied militias and two rebel groups. "The humanitarian situation on both sides of the Sudan-Chad border is appalling," Lubbers is quoted as saying. He said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was working with partners to help the displaced in Darfur, and to try and create conditions for their return. Overall, Lubbers told the council that never before had there been so many opportunities for lasting solutions to the refugee problem in many parts of Africa, including Angola, Burundi, Eritrea, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. He said there was a common responsibility to reduce the risk of conflicts recurring and to ensure that such progress continued. He added that many challenges lay ahead, "including the need to strongly support the peace processes at all levels and to ensure the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration of former combatants, including youths". However, he told the council that despite some gains, concern remained about the inequity of resources committed to Africa. "While emergency teams struggled to move tens of thousands of refugees from the border areas in Chad, that life-saving operation and the funds being sought to prepare for their eventual repatriation remained seriously under-funded," Lubbers was quoted as having told the council. Among the council members who posed questions to Lubbers were the representatives of Angola, Algeria, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania and the United States. [The full UN Security Council statement on Lubbers' briefing is available online: www.un.org]