Recent Violence In Jabel Marra, Darfur

EDM number 994 in 2009-10, proposed by Mark Durkan on 02/03/2010.
Categorised under the topics of Crimes of violence, International politics and government, Middle East and Military operations.

That this House condemns the gross violence currently being waged in the Jabel Marra region of Darfur, particularly the town of Deribat, displacing tens of thousands of people and killing hundreds; notes that this military offensive, reportedly including attack from the air, has come after Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir's declaration on 24 February 2010 `that the crisis in Darfur is finished. Darfur is now at peace'; recognises also that the Doha ceasefire deal on 23 February 2010 was with one rebel group only, the Justice and Equality Movement; welcomes any respite to the suffering people of Darfur which any ceasefire can provide but recognises the questions about its durability and scope; calls for the violence in Jabel Marra to end and for Unamid peacekeepers to be allowed the access to Deribat they have been trying to negotiate; supports those aid groups still in that region whose staff have been endangered and who will struggle to cope with the humanitarian hazards engendered by the current fighting; calls on the Government and international agencies to recognise the seriousness of this suffering and to marshall appropriate aid and other interventions; urges the Government and the UN to acknowledge the implications of wider violence in southern Sudan for the national elections due in April 2010, which will be a benchmark test for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between north and south Sudan; and further calls on all relevant agencies to undertake more contingency planning around those elections.

This motion has been signed by a total of 31 MPs.