A British parliamentary committee says the magnitude of the disaster in the Darfur region of Sudan has been grossly understated by the United Nations.
In a report issued on Wednesday, The International Development Committee of the House of Commons claims that the casualty figures are at least four times the 70,000 dead cited by the U.N.’s World Health Organization. It calls the response by the world community “scandalously ineffective.”
Muslim marauders acting with support of the Sudanese government have forced more than two million people from their homes in the Darfur region.
Nearly two-and-a-half million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the report. It is estimated that it will rise to as many as four million people over the course of this year.
Reacting to the U.N.’s refusal to categorize the Darfur situation as genocide, the Committee report says the crimes committed “are no less serious and heinous than genocide.”