The wrong battle

This current crop of African leaders consistently chooses the wrong battles to fight when they want to show their independence from the west. The latest example comes in their resistance to hand over the peace keeping African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) in Darfur to the United Nations.

In an ideal world AMIS troops would fulfil their mandate of monitoring the ceasefire and protecting civilians under “imminent threat” while successfully mediating negotiations for a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the rebel movements. In an ideal world AU governments would be queuing up to supply troops that they could pay for to ensure that the genocide stops. In an ideal world.

In reality AMIS has only 7000 troops in the region, which is the size of France.
In reality at least 20,000 troops are need.
In reality the armed groups continue to flourish and rob and attack civilians and aid workers.
In reality none of the warring parties are respecting the ceasefire
In reality the Sudanese government continues to support the Janjaweed, rather than disarming them.
In reality at least 180,000 people have died and 2 million have been displaced
In reality the UN refugee agency cut its budget for Darfur by almost half because security concerns had severely restricted its work there.

The bottom line is AMIS lacks the troops and the kind of equipment needed to effectively operate in such a difficult environment. AMIS has faced severe funding and logistical problems, and its mandate was to have expired at the end of March. Extending it to September to allow the “peace talks to develop” is a farce. The reality is the African Union never intended for its mission in Darfur to become a permanent peacekeeping force in the region and the current mission is out of its depth.

It is highly unlikely that the U.S., with Iraq and Afghanistan to think about, is preparing or planning to send troops to Darfur. Other western countries seem equally reluctant. What will probably happen if the U.N. takes over the AU mission is that the U.N. will absorb these African troops into a U.N. mission and then provide more troops, most likely from Africa or Asia. They would be better equipped, better funded and the bottom line is a U.N. presence with U.N. Security Council backing (once China and Russia get serious) will play a much stronger role in protecting civilians and demanding accountability than any AU mission at this time. A U.N. mission would be bigger, better equipped and more capable of aggressively responding to Darfur’s myriad armed groups. So the troops will be largerly African, and the force will be more effective, where is the problem?

The Sudanese government wants the ineffective AMIS force to remain, of course. Minister for Foreign Affairs Lam Akol argued against any handover, saying Africans should solve their own problems. “Sending any foreign and non-African forces to Darfur would encourage the rebel movements to adopt more intransigent positions in the Abuja peace talks.” Other Sudanese officials, who have been lobbying African governments hard, have argued the violence would only escalate if U.N. peacekeepers move in. I hope our leaders do not fall for this fake Pan Africanism. We do not have time for this showmanship and nonsense; this is the wrong battle to fight to show A.U. independence.

As an aside massive kudos go to the AMIS troops on the ground. These guys are doing an impossible job but always keep their heads up. At the beginning there were less than 100 troops on the ground. LESS THAN 100. These brave men drive around on pick ups where they can be shot at easily. In October 2005, four Nigerian soldiers and two contractors were killed in an ambush. The very next day, 38 AU soldiers were taken hostage without a shot being fired. Maj Gen Collins Ihekire, the Nigerian Force Commander of the AU in Darfur put it like this, “If someone hasn’t got wings and you say he has failed to fly - I don’t think you can call that failure. If we’re given what we request for then we’ll get the job done.”

An extra special shout out to the Rwandese force these men are part of the generation that survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide. They are in Darfur because they have seen genocide in their own country, they have lived genocide and vowed as a nation never to sit back where genocide is concerned. These are real African heroes. Phrases such as, “never again” and “learn the lessons” are overused and diluted in today’s soundbite society. But when a Rwandese solider in Darfur says, “never again” now that is powerful. “We hope and would appreciate the very important help,” said Maj. Emmanuel Rugazoora, a Rwandan commander. “We want to solve an African problem. No one should be ashamed to ask for more help where there are people suffering.”