EU gears up for Chad military mission

The EU is preparing to send up to 3,000 troops to Chad by the end of the year to protect refugees from the conflict in neighbouring Darfur. Next Monday (23 July) EU foreign ministers are expected to agree to step up planning for the mission which is the brainchild of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Under the planned mission, the EU would provide up to 3,000 military personnel to protect 230,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur and 170,000 Chadians displaced by the fighting between the Janjaweed militia, which is backed by the Sudanese government, and rebel forces. The refugees are in camps on Chad’s eastern border with Darfur which would be supervised by a police force made up of international and Chadian officers.

France has offered to supply half of the forces required, around 1,500 personnel. It already has troops on the ground in Chad.

The EU mission would be deployed by the end of the year and would operate for up to a year depending on an assessment of its effectiveness after the first six months.

Deploying the mission would require a United Nations Security Council resolution and a commitment that the EU force would be replaced by an UN mission.

Chad’s President Idris Déby has refused to accept a UN mission in his country but has been convinced to allow EU forces.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana discussed the EU mission when he met French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris last week (12 July).

Kouchner, a long-standing supporter of ‘ingérance’ or military intervention for humanitarian purposes, proposed humanitarian aid corridors in June, shortly after taking office.

The proposal met scepticism initially but is increasingly winning backing from EU countries which want to take action to tackle the crisis in Darfur and its effects in neighbouring countries.

Around 200,000 have died in the clashes between the Janjaweed militia and rebel groups and a further two million have been displaced.

The international community is trying to increase pressure on the Sudanese government to end the conflict. The Sudanese government has reluctantly agreed to the presence of an international peacekeeping force in the region, made up of soldiers from African and other countries.

Talks on a resolution authorising the joint African Union-United Nations mission were continuing at UN headquarters in New York as European Voice went to press.

The force is expected to be ready by October at the earliest, although it could take until next year for soldiers to move into the troubled region. There is a small African Union force of around 7,000 troops in Darfur but it has proved ineffective in stemming the violence.

Following a meeting on Darfur in Tripoli in 15-16 July, there will be a round of peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania, in 3-5 August. Rebel groups that did not sign a 2006 peace deal are expected to attend.

Solana said that the news about the peace talks was "a concrete and encouraging development" which would prepare the ground for "early negotiations".

The EU is preparing to send up to 3,000 troops to Chad by the end of the year to protect refugees from the conflict in neighbouring Darfur. Next Monday (23 July) EU foreign ministers are expected to agree to step up planning for the mission which is the brainchild of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.