Brussels, 02/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - Linking word and deed, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel travelled to Sudan at the weekend to tell the Sudanese President Omar el Bashir of the EU's extreme concern at the aggravation in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and to try, so far in vain, to persuade the Sudanese authorities to accept the deployment of UN troops on their soil to prevent an even greater tragedy (see EUROPE 9276). The two-hour meeting with the Sudanese President in Khartoum on the evening of 30 September, allowed a “free and frank exchange of views”, said Johannes Laitenberger, the Commission spokesman.
Mr Barroso stressed that there could be no military solution to the conflict and that all parties had to sign and implement the Darfur peace agreement of May. “The status quo is not sustainable. Our goal is to reach peace in Darfur. And the EU is committed and is moving to put an end to this human tragedy,” said Mr Barroso, according to his spokesman. President Bashir again refused categorically to allow a UN force take over from the African Union, but the two sides undertook to maintain diplomatic and political contact to find a peace agreement leading to overall peace and improving security on the ground. On 1st October, Mr Barroso and Mr Michel visited El Fashir in North Darfur to thank the African troops for the “remarkable work” they were doing, and to meet the humanitarian community (Red Cross, UN Agencies, NGOs, World Food Programme) which are providing help to the victims of the civil war. On the ground, the two men were able to gauge for themselves the general insecurity, a major problem for the provision of humanitarian aid.
Louis Michel announced the allocation of €40 million additional humanitarian aid - this includes €26 million in support of the efforts of the World Food Programme and thus avoids any break in supplies of basic food ratios to the people (as a result of lack of funding, 350,000 people could not be fed in August). This funding will come from the budget of ECHO, the Commission's humanitarian aid service, and will take the aid provided by the Commission, in response to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, to €340 million since 2004. The Commission is also a major contributor to the African Union mission in Sudan. (AMIS).
The humanitarian situation in Darfur was also due to be discussed by the European Commission and the Commission of the African Union, during their third joint working meeting, on 2 October in Addis Abeba (EUROPE will return to this).