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France calls for help over Darfur
France has appealed for greater international involvement to help refugees from Sudan's Darfur region. The French defence minister - after visiting camps for Sudanese refugees in Chad - said more needed to be done. Meanwhile, the United Nations says that the Sudanese cabinet has approved an action plan to ease the crisis. It commits Sudan to begin disarming the Janjaweed militia whose attacks on the civilian population have driven more than a million people from their homes. France has sent about 200 soldiers and begun airlifting relief supplies to eastern Chad - where 150,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed the border to escape the fighting in Darfur. With the rainy season well under way, many roads are impassable and relief supplies are increasingly having to be transported by air. After visiting eastern Chad, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Friday said refugees were not starving and sanitary conditions in the camps were quite good. But - she added - more needed to be done to provide shelter and hygiene, and the real problem was the shortage of helicopters to move supplies. Posted by: Fred 2004-08-07 |
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