asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their current assessment of the security situation in Darfur and Chad. [HL4131]

The security situation in Darfur remains precarious, with increasing banditry and inter-tribal fighting. The Sudanese Government resumed bombing villages in Darfur in late April, killing and injuring a number of civilians. These attacks showed little regard for human life and violated UN Security Council Resolution 1591. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has strongly condemned them. We call upon the Sudanese Government to stop these attacks and on all parties to the conflict to stop attacks and other violations of the ceasefire immediately. All sides must commit to the resolution of the conflict or face further measures in the UN Security Council.

We remain very concerned about the humanitarian and security situation in eastern Chad. We are particularly concerned by increasing levels of internal displacement, due to inter-ethnic fighting and cross-border attacks from Darfur; protection of refugees and internally displaced people; the security environment for humanitarian agency operations and the fragility of the natural resource base to support displaced populations. We support renewed French efforts to get a peacekeeping force into Chad.