Spanking new French president Nicholas Sarkozy had some success today convincing the U.N. Security Council to agree to a plan to send E.U. troops in to both Chad and the country with the world's most obvious name, the Central African Republic. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have of course fled to Chad and CAR while trying to escape the violence in Darfur. These hundreds of thousands of refugees aren't, of course, included in the numbers of Darfurs' dead, but in a sense their lives have ended because of the fighting there. At least, their lives as they knew them.

And what's happened of late has been that instability of Darfur is spreading beyond Sudan's borders:

Life in the eastern Chad city of Goz Beida was calm before last fall's clashes, says Mr. Ali. But now the influx of Chadian refugees – and the arrival of more than 25 different relief groups – have quadrupled the population, straining already scarce supplies of water, firewood, and grazing land for animals that the refugees brought with them.

Scores of smaller towns in the area are facing a similar situation, including the market town of Kerfi, which has seen its population triple. The rains have filled riverbeds called wadis that are dry for most of the year, and food aid to Kerfi ran out in July. The next shipment won't get through until next month.

The U.N. Security Council signed off on the plan today:

The new force would attempt to block fighters from Sudan from crossing into a corner of the Central African Republic, according to the 10-page French-drafted resolution approved by a 15 to 0 vote.

EU defense ministers meet on Friday in Portugal to give a final go-ahead for the deployment of up to 4,000 troops by the end of the year beginning next month. The United Nations would field up to 300 police, 50 military liaison officers and civilian personnel.

(Photo by mknobil.)