World joins in helping Darfur refugees

Key points

• G8 urges Sudan to disarm Arab militias engaged in ethnic cleansing

• UK nearly doubles aid but demands more action from Sudan on Darfur crisis

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• Shadow development secretary calls on UN military action in Sudan

Key quote

"Development aid should follow good behaviour and not be regarded as an incentive for good behaviour" - John Bercow, shadow international development secretary

Story in full THE world loosened its pursestrings to help the devastated people of Darfur yesterday, amid stern warnings that members of the Sudanese government must act to stop armed militias terrorising the region.

Britain confirmed that its aid package had been nearly doubled to 34.5 million, while the European Union committed 12 million (7.8 million).

Nearly a million people have been driven from their homes in the Darfur region of Sudan under an "ethnic-cleansing" policy supported by the Khartoum government that is estimated to have claimed 300,000 lives. A famine is expected to ravage the region later this year, because the unrest has prevented farmers from sowing crops before the annual rains.

The G8 group of industrialised nations led the pressure on the Sudan government last night, urging it to disarm immediately the Arab militias that are waging a campaign of looting, burning and rape in Darfur.

Hilary Benn, the International Development Secretary, has blamed the Sudanese government alone for the catastrophe which had, until this week, threatened to become the world’s forgotten genocide. He confirmed Britain was to increase its aid package for Darfur by 15 million, and hinted that more money could be available for development work.

John Bercow, the shadow international development secretary, said that Mr Benn had been right to increase dramatically Britain’s contribution to the humanitarian mission in Darfur.

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But he said it could only be successful if it was provided under a system that "mixed the carrot with the stick".

Mr Bercow told The Scotsman: "Development aid should follow good behaviour and not be regarded as an incentive for good behaviour."

Mr Bercow also repeated his call for the United Nations to intervene militarily in Darfur, where attacks by Arab militias known as the Janjaweed continue daily on the dispossessed black African population. The shadow secretary added that it was time the United Nations proved itself in its role as "the world’s policeman".

A statement issued yesterday by the G8 also urged the UN to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur.

In yesterday’s edition of The Scotsman, a senior UN official warned that every Sudanese refugee under the age of five would be dead in six months unless there was immediate international intervention.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have struggled across the border between Sudan and Chad.

Aid experts have warned that there will also be many deaths in Chad before the end of the year, unless aid can be put in place before the rains begin in earnest.

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