Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes with deep concern the appalling security, humanitarian and human rights situation in the Darfur region of Sudan and calls for an immediate end to the ongoing violations of human rights and international law, especially those affecting women and children;

recognises the serious implications of the situation for regional security, in particular as regards Chad, and for the stability of Sudan itself;

condemns all violations of the 2004 N'djamena Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement, of the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1591 and of the May 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement;

calls on all parties in the strongest terms immediately to halt the violence, to protect civilians and to ensure full, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to all those in need in Darfur;

praises the continuing outstanding work of Irish and other NGOs to fulfil their humanitarian mission in extremely difficult conditions;

notes that Ireland has contributed more than €16 million in support to Darfur over the period 2004-2006;

reminds the leadership of the Sudanese Government of its collective and individual responsibility to protect all its citizens from violence and to guarantee respect for human rights;

fully supports UN Security Council Resolution 1706 (2006) of 31 August 2006 and urges the Government of Sudan to give its unambiguous consent to the implementation of this resolution and the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force, in order to ensure the protection of the civilian population and support the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement;

welcomes the decision of the African Union's Peace and Security Council to extend the mandate of AMIS, the African Union's Mission in Sudan, until 31 December 2006, in order to avoid a security vacuum in Darfur; and urges the council at its meeting on 29 November 2006 to extend the mandate of AMIS into 2007;

welcomes, in the absence to date of the consent of the Government of Sudan to a UN mission, the agreement in principle on the deployment of a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur, reached at the high-level meeting held in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2006, and urges the Government of Sudan to reach agreement without delay on the outstanding issues;

acknowledges that long-term security in Darfur can only be guaranteed by full implementation of the May 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement and welcomes current efforts to bring non-signatories into this agreement; and

supports the efforts of the Government to highlight the situation in international fora, including the United Nations and the European Union, and to encourage all those with influence over the Sudanese Government to persuade it to meet its obligations and respond to the wishes of the international community and commit itself to taking such other measures as may be appropriate for advancing a peace process.

I wish to share time with Deputy Carey, whom I thank for first suggesting an all-party motion on Darfur.

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