Press Release – March 19th
The Irish Anti-War Movement will hold a protest picket tomorrow (Wednesday February 20th) at 1pm outside the Dail in protest against government plans to send Irish troops to Chad.
50 Irish Rangers are due to be deployed to Chad this Thursday as part of a total of a total deployment of 400 Irish troops for the Eufor mission.
Press Release – March 19th
The Irish Anti-War Movement will hold a protest picket tomorrow (Wednesday February 20th) at 1pm outside the Dail in protest against government plans to send Irish troops to Chad.
50 Irish Rangers are due to be deployed to Chad this Thursday as part of a total of a total deployment of 400 Irish troops for the Eufor mission.
The IAWM reject government claims that the Eufor mission to Chad is simply a humanitarian mission. The IAWM says that Irish troops will be getting involved in a French colonial adventure to prop up the corrupt undemocratic regime of Chad’s President Idriss Deby.
The IAWM say the sending troops to the mission also amounts to taking sides in a proxy war that is raging between Sudan and Chad in Darfur and in Chad itself.
Richard Boyd Barrett, chairperson of the Irish Anti-War Movement said:
“The Irish soldiers that are being sent to Chad and the Irish public are being misled as to real nature of this military intervention. Irish troops are being used to provide a humanitarian gloss and legitimacy for what is, in reality, a French colonial intervention to prop a rotten and corrupt regime that is engaged in a proxy war with Sudan.
The French have a long colonial history in this area and continue to have interests in this oil rich country, as do the United States. They are backing the Deby regime and by extension the rebels in Darfur that have been part of a conflict that has claimed the lives of 200,000 people. The French involvement is part of an escalating rivalry with China for influence in this region, which is de-stabilising the area.
The Deby regime has called repeatedly for the Eufor force to come in and has made it clear that this will assist him in the battle that is raging with the rebels that oppose him. The Deby regime has just introduced curfews on the civilian population and media censorship. Human rights groups report that political opponents of the regime are being arrested and disappearing. The French military that will dominate the Eufor force has admitted arming the Deby regime and Chad’s rebels claim that they have been fired upon directly by French forces. Chad’s rebels have also made clear that they will view Irish troops as part of a French expedition to prop up Deby’s regime.
The fact that the Irish troops have been briefed by a leading figure in one of the rebel groups in Darfur, that is at the centre of the bloodshed there, is further evidence that Ireland is becoming embroiled in something that goes way beyond humanitarianism or peace-keeping.
It is utterly wrong and contrary to Ireland’s tradition of military neutrality to put Irish troops in harms way by sending them into this situation. The government are putting the lives of Irish troops at risk to serve the interests of French colonialism and a corrupt and undemocratic regime.”
