Chamber approves motion to intervene in Sudan crisis

The CSV MP wished to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, leaving 25 million people in a precarious situation, while 17 million people risk starvation.

Virtually all the speakers in the subsequent debate at the Krautmaart said they regretted that the humanitarian disaster - particularly in West Darfur - is not receiving enough attention, as the DP's Gusty Graas said there should have been interventions for years.
Mosar quoted the Human Rights Watch report published last week:

"It says the local population is being massacred, while hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. The risk of a genocide has become real, as local communities, particularly the Masalit people, are being systematically eradicated."

The LSAP's Yves Cruchten agreed:

"The gruesome acts of violence committed against the Masalit and other non-Arab communities are of an ethnic nature and can therefore be strongly condemned."

Mosar's motion asked the government to get involved in the fight against this humanitarian crisis and to intervene at EU level to put more pressure on Sudanese authorities, seeking a ceasefire and pleading for human rights to be respected.

Graas emphasised the role of the European Union in these situations, saying it was important to have a strong union capable of intervening at international level in the future. "I don't want to reopen the debate on unanimity in foreign policy," he added. "But it has been proven once again how important it is for us to have a stronger voice representing Europe."

A second motion filed by Graas on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was also passed in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday, ahead of a Chamber delegation's travels to Armenia next week.