The international community has a last chance to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from dying in a man-made catastrophe in Sudan's western region of Darfur, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank warned on Sunday.
"Urgent action is required on several fronts if Darfur 2004 is not to join Rwanda 1994 as shorthand for international shame," said ICG in a new report entitled: "Sudan: Now or never in Darfur". The humanitarian situation was likely to get much worse before it got better, ICG warned.
While it was "too late to prevent substantial ethnic cleansing" in Darfur, provided the UN Security Council acted decisively, there was "just enough" time to save hundreds of thousands of lives now directly threatened by Sudanese troops and militias, as well as by looming famine and disease, said ICG.
Urgent Action Required On Darfur....***The full icg report can be downloaded here:
Sudan: Now or Never in Darfur