According to United Nations officials, the Sudanese government is complicit in "repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity," resulting in "the worst humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world". In a scorched earth policy, military forces and government supported militias have been killing, beating, raping, abducting and looting African civilians in the western Sudanese province of Darfur, resulting in an estimated 10,000 civilians killed and over one million displaced to refugee camps across the region. If the situation is not resolved quickly, conditions of widespread starvation and disease will worsen. Since its founding, Education International has spoken out strongly against violations of human rights and denial of worker freedoms throughout the world. In the case of Sudan, we do so again.
The Fourth World Congress of Education International, meeting in Porto Alegre (Brazil) from 22 to 26 July 2004:
1. Resolved, that EI and its affiliates support the ending of violence in Sudan and send a message to the government of Sudan protesting its continuing pattern of gross human rights abuses; and
2. Resolved, that EI and its affiliates urge national governments and multinational government organisations to support and expand humanitarian aid programmes for displaced populations from Darfur, currently trapped in refugee camps in Sudan and Chad; and
3. Resolved, that EI and its affiliates work with Public Services International, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and other national and international trade union organisations in offering support and assistance to the workers of Sudan.