UN refugee agency calls for urgent action in Darfur

Dec 6, 2005 (COPENHAGEN) — The head of the U.N. refugee agency called on the international community to take a united stance and give urgently needed help to Sudan’s embattled Darfur region.

“It is, without any doubts, the worst problem we’re facing in the world today,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters in Denmark.

“We’re very worried about the whole picture in Sudan. … The international community needs to act, to act quickly and to act united to make sure that all the parties understand that peace is the only way.”

Despite more than a year of negotiations, the government and rebel groups have continued fighting in Sudan’s western Darfur region. The violence has led to more than 180,000 deaths and forced 2 million people to flee their homes.

(AP/ST)