He who does not weep, does not see

Chad is in Africa. It is a former French colony. According to the United Nations, it has been affected by a humanitarian crisis since at least 2001.

Right now there are almost 500,000 people living in camps in eastern Chad, including a quarter of a million refugees who fled violence and ethnic cleansing in neighbouring Darfur.

They are under regular attack from armed groups, Chadian rebels and bandits. Rape, murder and the recruitment of child soldiers happen every day.

But the Chadian Government is unable and unwilling to protect the camps. Without protection humanitarian agencies cannot work in the camps and they are open to attack. Refugees will have no aid and could be forced to flee again.

The only protection these people have is a small force of almost 4,000 UN peacekeepers, among them around 400 Irish troops.

Their UN Security Council mandate to be there runs out on the 15^th of May and the government of Chad does not want the mandate renewed.

Without this protection, we face the possibility of a humanitarian crisis involving hundreds of thousands of people with the potential to engulf Chad and Darfur.

All too often we act too late. In everything we do. A catastrophe happens, and we think: oh we have to do something about this. Obviously we, they, it are failing; lets fix the failings. And that is what we are good at as humans! Mopping up after the big explosion, whether that is in our personal life, or on a much larger global scale.

But every now and then we can intercept. It can be: what can I do to prevent ANY suffering, rather than what can I do to prevent MORE suffering.

We need the UN Security Council to stand up to the Chadian Government, demand the peacekeepers stay and ensure they are given the troops and the equipment they need to protect the camps.

France is the lead member of the UN Security Council on this. It was France that argued for troops to be deployed to Chad in the first place and it is France that holds the key to persuading Chad to accept the peacekeepers.

We need your help. We need you to take action.

Go to http://www.amnesty.org/actforchad/ to write to French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

We have 20 days to save hundreds of thousands of lives.