Friday, January 07, 2005

Heat is off Khartoum with much to be done in S. Sudan

A report in the Sudan Tribune today, says what many of us must be thinking. The peace agreement to be signed in Kenya on Sunday, helps take the heat off the Khartoum government.

At Mayflower Hill blog, Christopher writes a post on the peace agreement. He sent me the following comment [thanks Christopher, I couldn't agree more]

"What amazes me is how unabashedly supportive people have been of such a terrible agreement that rests entirely on good will that Bashir has never shown, and has no incentive to show in the future. I'm surprised there hasn't been any more critical discussions of the agreement."
- - -

A report by VOA today explains that once the peace agreement is signed, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) will begin a long process of repatriating Sudanese refugees. The largest group of refugees from southern Sudan, about 223,000, is in Uganda. The rest are in Ethiopia, Kenya, DRC, CAR and Egypt.

UNCHR continues to operate eleven refugee camps in eastern Chad to accommodate about 200,000 Sudanese who have fled Darfur. There, the biggest problem still continues to be finding enough water. The UN warns resources will be severely strained if more Sudanese leave Darfur for eastern Chad.

The problem of clearing minefields is not mentioned in the report.

No comments: