MEMBERS OF Amnesty International’s Irish section yesterday presented a petition signed by almost 4,000 Irish people to the Élysée Palace urging French president Nicolas Sarkozy to extend the mandate of the UN mission in Chad.
Amid divisions over the future of the Minurcat mission in Chad, the UN Security Council extended its mandate until this Wednesday to examine a possible revision of its brief.
The Government decided in March to withdraw more than 400 Irish troops from the peace enforcement mission because of uncertainty over its future, while France is reportedly keen for it to be substantially scaled down and then brought to an end.
Amnesty Ireland, which gathered some 3,000 e-mails as well as 3,878 signatures for its petition, says there are major concerns about the capacity of Chad’s police force to protect civilians in eastern Chad, including more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians. It calls on the security council to extend Minurcat’s mandate to protect them.
The petition delivered to the Élysée yesterday expresses concern that the Chadian government has been “unable and unwilling” to protect civilians in eastern Chad “and has still not presented any concrete plan” on how it might do so.
The petition urges Mr Sarkozy “to take the lead at the security council in ensuring that the protection of civilians is at the forefront of the discussions by members of the security council and that the protection of civilians remains part of Minurcat’s mandate”.