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Darfur Crisis

That is my view. My hon. Friend makes the point extremely clearly. The 10th recommendation of the report talks about the importance of African solutions to African problems. Can the Secretary of State update us on the pledge made by the Prime Minister, which was referred to yesterday in Prime Minister’s questions, to train 20,000 peacekeepers by the end of this year? In response to a question from the Leader of the Opposition yesterday, the Prime Minister specifically mentioned how important that would be to Sudan. I want to turn briefly to a point mentioned in passing by the Secretary of State, which is the decision last year at the millennium development goals review summit to embrace a duty to protect. The Secretary of State rightly said that people hear those fine words but wonder what they actually mean. For the people the shadow Foreign Secretary and I met in the camps, those words are truly meaningless. My substantive point is that in implementing the agreement and ensuring that the parties to the agreement, as well as those who have not yet signed but will, stand by what they have agreed and said, we will see whether the international community can summon up the political will and sense of urgency to ensure that peace comes to Darfur and that the people in the camps can return in safety to their homes and villages. When we met them, they were quite clear that they would not return unless there was a more substantial force in Darfur. What plans have been developed to translate the African Union force into a blue-hatted force? The timetable is very tight. The UN and African Union officials whom we met during our visit were people of very great calibre and ability. I think in particular of the African Union’s No. 2, General Kamanzi from Rwanda. Indeed, the Rwandan element of the African Union, one of the best groups in the Union, is a symbol of the President of Rwanda’s comments who, when asked to deploy a force as part of the African Union, said that his country had suffered terribly and that it would make a significant contribution to the African Union force in Darfur, which it has. I hope that the Secretary of State will be able to tell us what progress has been made in that respect. The Opposition believe that we need a muscular chapter 6 engagement. The difficulties of getting a serious United Nations mandate in Darfur to take the necessary action were eloquently underlined in an intervention by the hon. Member for Stroud, who pointed out that the Chinese have been extremely difficult over the wishes of much of the international community. The United Nations does not lend itself to an easy solution because of the veto structure. I fear that a proper muscular mandate will prove difficult. I hope that the Secretary of State will comment on that. An astonishing coalition exists throughout much of the world in support of the resolution. It is extraordinary to see complete agreement in America, from left-leaning liberals to the religious right, about what needs to happen in Darfur. Although America may have been preoccupied elsewhere, it agrees about the steps that the international community must take. I hope that the Secretary of State can tell us that the European Union, too, is playing its part in resolving those difficulties. The Secretary of State mentioned the World Food Programme announcement, which has caused such concern. Britain has done much to support that programme, and I hope that he will be able to tell us that other European countries are putting their shoulders to the wheel to help with this extremely difficult humanitarian situation. We need to provide adequate food, yet we are advised that the amount of food available means that those in receipt of it will receive only 1,000 calories a day, which is barely subsistence level. Within the constraints set out by Kofi Annan, there are grounds for some optimism. I am deeply concerned that the international community will find it difficult to put muscular, persuasive force behind the agreement signed in Abuja. I hope that the Secretary of State will say a little more about what is to happen on the ground in respect of the translation from the African Union force to a UN force. I very much hope that the challenge in respect of the Sudanese Government and the situation in Darfur will be met through the international collective will as expressed through the United Nations and as supported forcefully by the Secretary of State and his colleagues in the British Government. I hope that that challenge will be faced down and that real progress can now be made for those whom the Secretary of State mentioned, who have had to live in the camps, often in desperately serious and worrying conditions, so that they can return to where they lived before in peace and security.