I've had a concern with Sudan for some time. There is a sense of urgency about this that we may not be appreciating. I met with Jan Egeland at the UN General Assembly when I was with the foreign minister. He made the statement that we risk seeing 100,000 deaths a month unless we have an urgent intervention. He meant that we needed a UN multinational protection force on the ground.
I know reference has been made to the Sudanese president's acknowledgment of his cooperation with the African Union. That's not the issue. The real issue is the Sudanese president's refusal to allow a UN multinational protection force into the country. A transition from the African Union to that objective is mandated by a UN Security Council resolution.
So what do we do in the face of the refusal by the Sudanese president to permit a UN multinational protection force? Do we say we want his consent but are prepared to go in without it to protect a doctrine? What are your views on that?
It seems to me that unless we can ensure a prompt transition to multinational protection forces, we're going to see more dead, more displaced people, and more people on the humanitarian life support system. All the good work that's been done will come to naught if the disaster we're facing takes place.