September 17, 2004Province takes the lead
Five minutes could save lives, says head of CJC.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
The British Columbia Jewish community is taking a lead role in drawing world attention to the humanitarian disaster unfolding in the Sudanese region of Darfur.
Racially motivated attacks by Arab militias against the African, agricultural community of Darfur have led international relief agencies to warn that as many as 1.2 million lives are at risk if the world community does not mobilize to prevent a slaughter on a scale that rivals the catastrophe a decade ago in Rwanda, where 800,000 lives were lost in a race-based conflict.
Senator Mobina Jaffer, a representative of British Columbia in Parliament's upper house, is Canada's special envoy to the Sudanese peace process. She met with members of Canadian Jewish Congress last week and both parties say they are working to raise awareness and humanitarian relief for Darfur.
"We are doing all we can on a humanitarian basis," Jaffer told the Bulletin in an interview after her meeting with CJC. "We are, of course, providing help with food through the World Food Program, also through UNICEF and also with maternal health for mothers and young girls. We're having impact with the kind of programs we are choosing."
In addition to immediate humanitarian aid, Jaffer said Canada is using diplomatic channels to raise the global condemnation of the Sudanese-government-backed militias who are terrorizing the people of Darfur.
"At the United Nations, we are working very hard," Jaffer said. "Ambassador [Allan] Rock is working very hard to get our message across, which is that we want to give one consistent message as an international community: that the militias have to be disarmed."
Canada's new foreign minister, Pierre Pettigrew, recently returned from Europe, where Jaffer said he raised the issue of Sudan with every government representative with whom he met. Prime Minister Paul Martin is in close contact, Jaffer said, with President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to see how Canada can help empower the African Union to take a constructive role in finding a peaceful resolution.
Jaffer was the first international envoy to tour the Sudanese crisis region, and her two visits there in the past two years left an indelible impression.
"The situation was desperate," Jaffer said of her first visit 15 months ago. "Now things have improved. Humanitarian help is going through, food is going through. But when I was there, people were living under twigs. There was very little food. Security was a huge challenge."
The United Nations, under the auspices of the World Food Program, has been able to get aid into the region despite the dangers and challenges presented by the violent atmosphere. Nevertheless, Jaffer echoed warnings by aid agencies that complacency on the part of the world community could be disastrous. The situation facing a million refugees in the region remains potentially cataclysmic.
"When people think of camps, they think of tents in a row and food being given in a pretty organized way," Jaffer said. "Here, people were living literally under twigs, with no protection from the elements. What was for me very, very touching was that the people were not broken; they were very, very strong. They were going to see this through. It led me to work even harder. The people are very, very strong."Jaffer was scheduled to return to Sudan this week for her third trip. Her last visit was in May.
"I have seen a lot of pain, because I'm a refugee myself," Jaffer said. "But the pain I saw in Sudan is just horrendous and we all need to work together to find a way [to alleviate it]."
Jaffer's meeting Sept. 7 with representatives of the Jewish community reflected the active approach CJC is taking in publicizing the Sudanese crisis.
"It made me feel very comforted," said the senator. "This is the Jewish community that, when I came [to Canada] were very kind to me." Jaffer cites Vancouver lawyer and Jewish community activist Jack Kowarsky as the only Canadian among the countless she approached three decades ago who would take a chance on hiring her as a new immigrant. She added she has worked on a variety of issues over the years with Erwin Nest, the executive director of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region.
"Their absolute anxiety and also zeal to work on this issue, to make Canadians aware of this issue – but more than that, to be supportive of people in Darfur – was very touching to me."
Canada and the international community must mobilize to ensure that humanitarian aid continues to reach the desperate people of Darfur, Jaffer said. But she added that disarming the militias is the necessary step to security and stability.
"Disarming will be the first step," she said. "It will create security, but it won't create peace."
Efforts by the African Union to bring together representatives of Darfur tribes and Sudanese Muslim leaders must be encouraged to create long-term peace, said Jaffer.
Mark Weintraub, chair of CJC, Pacific Region, and a member of the delegation that met with Jaffer, commended the senator's work and pledged co-operation.
"We indicated to her that we understood the tremendous responsibility and burden that was being placed on her shoulders as Canada's special envoy and we could empathize with the anguish that she must be experiencing in coming up against so many roadblocks," he said. "The United Nations simply is not mandating sufficient funds for peace-keeping troops. Too much time is being given the regime and there is not sufficient resolve within the United Nations to ensure that [a greater humanitarian catastrophe] will not occur."
Weintraub said Jewish leaders have a unique role to play in situations like Darfur."The Jewish community intuitively understands why this is an absolutely critical issue for all Canadians to speak out on," he said. "We wanted her to know that the Jewish community is available to take any suggestions or guidance. We ourselves have determined that there are certain steps we could do."
CJC has communicated with every B.C. MP, with special emphasis on cabinet ministers, to make the crisis in Sudan a priority issue. Weintraub is also urging individuals to act.
"Our plea to all Canadians is to stop for five minutes and pick up the phone or write a letter to a member of Parliament and the prime minister to indicate support for the special envoy's work, to call upon all levels of government to do everything that Canada can possibly do to make sure that there is appropriate civilian protection and that there are sufficient funds to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the peacekeeping efforts," Weintraub said. "There are ways that Canada can act even if the United Nations is frustrating us and even if there are all kinds of impediments."
There is a need for more peacekeepers in the region and additional funds are needed for humanitarian relief, he said.
"While Canada is a middle power and there are limitations to what we can do given the [Sudanese] regime, given all the geopolitical considerations, nonetheless, if Canadians were moved to respond to this tragedy in a more significant way, there is a likelihood that some lives may be saved," said Weintraub. "It takes five minutes."
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.
http://www.jewishindependent.ca/archives/Sept04/archives04Sept17-01.html
