Brussels gives 18 million euros for Darfur refugees

BRUSSELS, July 12 (AFP) — The European Union’s executive arm Monday released aid worth 18 million euros (22 million dollars) for victims of the humanitarian crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Ten million euros will be allocated for people driven from their homes inside the war-torn region and the rest will go on refugees from Darfur in neighbouring Chad, the European Commission said.

Darfur was being discussed Monday by EU foreign ministers after the bloc’s Dutch presidency called on its partners to boost their emergency aid to the region.

At least 10,000 people have died and more than a million have been driven from their homes in Darfur in western Sudan since an uprising against the Khartoum government broke out in February 2003.

In retaliation, government forces and so-called Janjawid militias have carried out what various officials describe as a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing and forced starvation.