[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) convened a meeting with members of the African diplomatic corps to discuss the urgent need to extend the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and to deploy United Nations peacekeepers as quickly as possible. Representatives from Egypt, Ghana and South Africa attended the meeting with Durbin, Obama, Brownback and Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Russ Feingold (D-WI).

“Hundreds of thousands of innocent people have died in Darfur, women have been raped, children have been brutalized in untold numbers and two and a half million people are displaced,” Senator Durbin said. “The world cannot stand idly by while this genocide continues and escalates. The world has condemned the murder and violence in Darfur, but now we must act to stop it."

“Paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong, and with so many lives already lost, we have a moral obligation to prevent more death in Darfur,” Senator Obama said. “We must ensure that the African Union forces can continue to protect the people of Darfur until at least the end of the year, and begin to lay the groundwork for a lasting solution in the region, two goals that I hope can be achieved at next week’s meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council.”

“The situation in Darfur is getting worse with each passing day,” Senator Brownback said. “Twelve humanitarian relief workers have been killed in the last two months, aid organizations can’t reach 60% of the displaced people they once served, and the violence continues to escalate. We must act now to stop the genocide in Darfur by supporting the African Union Mission in Sudan and paving the way for the United Nations to deploy peacekeepers to the region.”

In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of additional people in the region have been displaced; humanitarian organizations on the ground estimate that they can only reach about 60% of those in need of assistance. Reports indicate that the Khartoum government is once again stepping up its military campaign in Darfur and that rebel groups have been preparing for combat operations, dramatically increasing the possibility of a humanitarian catastrophe and the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. The African Union mission is currently set to expire at the end of the month. All present at the meeting agreed that it is imperative to extend the mission.

The Senators noted that the African Union alone cannot be responsible for stopping the genocide in Darfur and that United Nations peacekeepers represent the best hope for containing and ending the bloodshed in the region.