Catholic san Francisco
(CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS)
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Sudanese refugee children from the Darfur region attend a makeshift school in eastern Chad Aug 23. Aid organizations in Chad expect another 100,000 refugees as a result of ethnic cleansing in Sudan.
Aid workers brace for Sudanese refugees; bishop calls for U.S. action By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — As aid organizations in Chad braced for 100,000 more refugees from Sudan, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ international policy committee said there was “no question” that the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan represented ethnic cleansing. Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., told Catholic News Service that the Sudanese government is engaged in a policy to Arabize and Islamize the population. “This clearly is an example of ethnic cleansing, no question,” he said. Bishop Ricard, who met with displaced persons in Darfur earlier this month during a visit to Sudan, said a small contingent of African Union troops that arrived in Darfur in mid-August will do little to protect civilians from further violence. On his return to the United States, he requested a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell and urged a series of steps to relieve the crisis in Sudan. In his letter to Powell last week, Bishop Ricard recommended that the United States and the United Nations
work together to immediately deploy human rights monitors to the region and asked that President Bush appoint a special envoy and coordinator for U.S. policy. Bishop Ricard also recommended to Secretary of State Powell that the United States and the international community continue to insist that the Sudanese government allow unfettered humanitarian relief efforts; immediately end government attacks on civilian targets and punish such attacks by others; and accept responsibility to safeguard its own citizens. Bishop Ricard outlined steps he said the U.S. government and the international community should take to protect civilians and refugees, including providing logistical, financial and political support. Meanwhile, U.N. refugee workers in Chad told CNS they are bracing for the arrival of about 100,000 refugees from western Sudan. They said they expect a crush of refugees to cross the border before the end of 2004, joining nearly 200,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled to eastern Chad since the beginning of militia attacks more than a year ago. Another 1.2 million people are displaced within the SUDANESE REFUGEES, page 6 Darfur region.
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Stem cell Q & A . . . . . . . . . 5 Police and Fire Mass . . . . . . 6 St. Vincent de Paul . . . . . . . 8 Youth leader meeting. . . . . 11 Holy Father at Lourdes . . . 17
Young Adults’ Fall Fest
Catholic Charities CYO
‘Vanity Fair’ review
Canterbury to Rome . . . . . 22
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www.catholic-sf.org
August 27, 2004
FIFTY CENTS
VOLUME 6
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No. 26