CONGRESSMAN MILLER TAKES STRUGGLE IN DARFUR TO UNITED NATIONS
March 7, 2006
California Chronicle
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman George Miller, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and several other members of Congress met today with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York City to express their sense of urgency about the need for more forces and humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region of the Sudan to address the serious crisis there.
"We wanted to make sure that the United Nations heard our message loud and clear: that we cannot let the Sudanese government continue to victimize its own citizens," said Miller. "We need to make sure that the U.N. remains committed to increasing the number of United African troops in the region to protect the people there."
According to the Congressional Research Service, an estimated 1.9 million people have been displaced because of the political crises and more that 213,000 people have been forced away from their homes and into neighboring Chad. While there are no reliable estimates of the number of people killed as a result of the conflict, some observers project that up to 300,000 people have been killed over the past 24 months. In July 2004, the House and Senate declared the atrocities in Darfur "genocide," and the Bush Administration reached the same conclusion in September 2004.
"Despite the passage of time, the situation in Darfur is getting worse, not better," Miller said. "The world community must respond immediately. The current African Union Forces need to be strengthened and given greater support. President Bush has declared this crisis to be genocide, and it will continue to be genocide unless there is a stronger reaction from the world community, including the United States."
Miller noted that on April 30 in Washington, D.C. and in other cities thousands of people are expected to hold protests calling for stronger actions on Darfur. Prominent political figures, faith leaders, human rights activists, entertainers, journalists and thousands of others who support a stronger multi-national force to protect the civilians of Darfur are expected to participate.
"During the past genocides of Armenia, the Holocaust, and Rwanda, the world community failed to speak up and act with diligence in a timely manner," Miller added. "Now we look back at the tens of millions of lost and destroyed lives and ask how this happened. Today we have the opportunity to learn from history rather than repeat it. Already too much damage has occurred but if we act with diligence now, perhaps we can stop this catastrophe that is occurring in Darfur."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
California Chronicle
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman George Miller, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and several other members of Congress met today with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York City to express their sense of urgency about the need for more forces and humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region of the Sudan to address the serious crisis there.
"We wanted to make sure that the United Nations heard our message loud and clear: that we cannot let the Sudanese government continue to victimize its own citizens," said Miller. "We need to make sure that the U.N. remains committed to increasing the number of United African troops in the region to protect the people there."
According to the Congressional Research Service, an estimated 1.9 million people have been displaced because of the political crises and more that 213,000 people have been forced away from their homes and into neighboring Chad. While there are no reliable estimates of the number of people killed as a result of the conflict, some observers project that up to 300,000 people have been killed over the past 24 months. In July 2004, the House and Senate declared the atrocities in Darfur "genocide," and the Bush Administration reached the same conclusion in September 2004.
"Despite the passage of time, the situation in Darfur is getting worse, not better," Miller said. "The world community must respond immediately. The current African Union Forces need to be strengthened and given greater support. President Bush has declared this crisis to be genocide, and it will continue to be genocide unless there is a stronger reaction from the world community, including the United States."
Miller noted that on April 30 in Washington, D.C. and in other cities thousands of people are expected to hold protests calling for stronger actions on Darfur. Prominent political figures, faith leaders, human rights activists, entertainers, journalists and thousands of others who support a stronger multi-national force to protect the civilians of Darfur are expected to participate.
"During the past genocides of Armenia, the Holocaust, and Rwanda, the world community failed to speak up and act with diligence in a timely manner," Miller added. "Now we look back at the tens of millions of lost and destroyed lives and ask how this happened. Today we have the opportunity to learn from history rather than repeat it. Already too much damage has occurred but if we act with diligence now, perhaps we can stop this catastrophe that is occurring in Darfur."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:14 PM
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