U.N. approves peace force for Darfur refugees
To protect them in Chad, Central Africa
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a French resolution endorsing sending a European Union-U.N. force to Chad and the Central African Republic to protect civilians reeling from a spillover of the Darfur conflict.
The resolution was adopted by the council's 15 members, hours before French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened a rare Security Council summit on African conflicts on the sidelines of the current U.N. General Assembly session.
It authorizes the E.U., under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows the use of military force, to deploy a force for one year in the two former French colonies of Chad and Central African Republic.
The force will help improve security, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, and contribute to protecting civilians in danger, particularly refugees and displaced persons.
It also authorizes the European Union to deploy, for a period of one year, a 3,000-strong force, mostly composed of French troops in the two impoverished African countries, which have been flooded by refugees from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
Under the resolution, 300 U.N. policemen are tasked with monitoring camps for Darfur refugees and internally displaced people, which number respectively 236,000 and 173,000 in Chad alone, according to the U.N.
The U.N. police officers would be protected by 3,000 European troops, mostly French, under a British general.
Humanitarian groups have been lobbying for urgent protection for refugees and internally displaced people in Darfur and eastern Chad, especially women who are the target of rampant sexual violence.