New Attacks on a Civilian Camp in Darfur

The Sudanese Armed Force’s attack yesterday on Kalma Camp in South Darfur that reportedly left dozens dead is the latest example of the need to enforce and strengthen the Darfur arms embargo. Kalma Camp is home to some 90,000 people who have been left homeless as a result of the violence in Darfur. The camp has long been a hub of unrest and is “awash with weapons” according to a BBC report.

The continued flow of weapons into Darfur greatly complicates the work of the international peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, and further hinders the ability for the dormant peace process in Darfur to begin again. Ironically, the attacks on Kalma Camp occurred the same day the new United Nations-African Union Joint Mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole, officially took up his new post in Sudan.

For too long the Security Council has stood by and let weapons continue to flow into Darfur in violation of the arms embargo it implemented on the region. This is irresponsible and shameful. The Council ought to react strongly to this latest round of violence in Darfur by taking steps to enforce the arms embargo and expand it to cover all of Sudan as well as rebel groups operating in or from Eastern Chad.