Swiss FM visits Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region

By Anna Nelson

GENEVA, June 24, 2004 (Swissinfo) — The Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, has begun a three-day trip to Sudan where she is expected to witness the humanitarian crisis in the west of the country.

It is the first visit by a Swiss foreign minister to the African nation, which has been plagued by fighting and civil war for 21 years.

According to the foreign ministry, Calmy-Rey’s tour will start with a stopover in the western region of Darfur, where she is scheduled to visit camps set up for displaced persons in the region.

It is estimated that roughly one million people have been made homeless in Darfur since early last year, when fighting broke out between rebel groups and government forces.

“The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is very severe, and the foreign minister wanted to see for herself what the situation is like,” said Carine Carey, a member of the delegation travelling to Sudan.

“She also wanted to be able to visit the camps and come into contact with local authorities and representatives of international humanitarian organisations working on the ground,” Carey told swissinfo.

Peace broker

Switzerland played a key role in brokering a truce between the Muslim-led government in the north and rebels in the Christian south.

But despite encouraging steps towards peace in southern Sudan, the separate conflict in the western region of Darfur has continued to rage since early 2003.

According to Carey, Calmy-Rey is expected to discuss the peace process and bilateral relations with Sudanese officials in the capital, Khartoum, during her visit.

But the foreign ministry would not confirm whether Calmy-Rey was travelling to Sudan to mediate a peace deal for Darfur.

“The thrust of the talks in Khartoum will be on the Darfur conflict and the humanitarian crisis in the region,” said Carey. “But I can only repeat that she will be meeting representatives of the Sudanese government.”

Famine and disease

Earlier this month, Calmy-Rey appealed to the international community at a United Nations donor conference in Geneva to do more to help the victims of the Darfur conflict.

“This crisis requires an urgent and substantial humanitarian response,” Calmy-Rey told delegates in Geneva.

Those talks were called by the UN emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, who has accused government-backed Arab militias of carrying out ethnic cleansing of black Africans in western Sudan.

According to the UN, around two million people are in dire need of food and other aid in Darfur, where the fighting has also forced an estimated 150,000 people to flee into neighbouring Chad.

Aid agencies warn that the worst is yet to come.

“Relief operations cannot cope with the massive needs of the people in Darfur,” said the non-governmental organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

“Without increased efforts, there will be no way to avoid a famine that is likely to kill thousands.”

The UN has also warned that the start of the rainy season is likely to hamper the delivery of aid and foster a breeding ground for infectious diseases including diarrhoea, measles, meningitis and malaria.