Madam, - I have just returned from a week in Darfur, Western Sudan. I have been shocked by what I saw.
The UN's description of Darfur as being the "world's worst humanitarian disaster" is certainly true.
Over one million people have fled their villages and moved into makeshift camps. They have been terrorised by a local militia which has been supported by the Sudanese government.
Many of these people literally have nothing: no possessions beyond the clothes on their back; a row of sticks without cover serves as their home; they are eating wild berries for food.
The dreadful scenes of mass starvation, as in Ethiopia in the 1980s, have not yet been reached. But only a massive and co-ordinated international relief effort will prevent this.
This effort has started, but it is a race against time if many thousands of lives are to be saved.
The relief effort must go hand in hand with continued international pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the activities of the militia.
Only then will people consider leaving the relative safety of the camps to return to their villages.
Concern has launched one of its biggest ever emergency operations to respond to the crisis in Darfur.
It is being headed in Sudan by Father Jack Finucane who has unique experience of working in emergencies in Africa for over 40 years.
This has been made possible by the generosity of the Irish public who have donated €1.4 million to this appeal. We are extremely grateful for this.
The Irish people have shown remarkable generosity in responding to humanitarian disasters in the past.
I'm afraid that Darfur is the most significant such disaster so far of the twenty first century. I know the Irish people will again show they care for the poorest of the world. - Yours etc.,
TOM ARNOLD,
Chief Executive,
Concern,
Lower Camden Street,
Dublin 2.