The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Darfur. The text adopted in plenary had been tabled as a joint resolution by the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE, UEN and Greens/EFA groups.
The Parliament calls on the governments of the Member States of the European Union, the Council and the Commission to assume their responsibilities and make every possible effort to provide effective protection for the people of Darfur from a humanitarian disaster, which has resulted in at least 400 000 deaths and created more than two and a half million refugees and displaced persons during the past three years.
MEPs call on the UN to act in line with its "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine, even in the absence of consent or agreement from the Sudanese Government, and to set a clear date for deployment of a UN-supported peacekeeping force in Darfur, in order to secure humanitarian aid corridors without any further delay to support the increasingly isolated and suffering population in the region.
The resolution also calls on the international community, including the Member States of the European Union, to make equipment available in the region for the enforcement of the no-fly zone over Darfur.
The Parliament calls on the EU institutions and other international actors to apply sanctions that target any side that violates the 60-day ceasefire agreed on 11 January 2007 by the Sudanese Government and rebel groups. The Parliament is also in favour of targeted economic sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, as the EU has done in the past with other countries such as Belarus or North Korea, including the threat of an oil embargo.
MEPs also call on China to cease exporting arms to Sudan and to cease blocking decisions on targeted sanctions against the Government of Sudan in the UN Security Council.