Washington, D.C., – The Save Darfur Coalition convened an expert panel here on Tuesday to share recent on-the-ground experiences of the worsening humanitarian situation in war-stricken Darfur, and to call for a peacekeeping force that can effectively protect civilians there.

After several days in eastern Africa, award-winning actress Mia Farrow and David C. Rubenstein, executive director of the Save Darfur Coalition , returned yesterday to the United States with exclusive new video footage of refugee camps and other areas in eastern Chad. Violence and unrest have recently spilled over Sudan’s western border into Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR).

“The displaced people of eastern Chad and the refugees from Darfur urgently need a United Nations peacekeeping presence with a mandate to protect the civilian population and the courageous humanitarian workers who risk their own lives every day,” Farrow said.  “We have failed the people of Darfur, and now Chad.”

Calling what he observed “truly horrific and unimaginable,” Rubenstein said he hoped the rare video footage collected from the region would help raise international awareness of the broadening genocide in Sudan. “The growing proportions of the violence can no longer be ignored,” Rubenstein said. “Every voice that speaks out on the genocide can help protect the people of Darfur and Chad from future attack. We have an obligation to help end this humanitarian crisis.”

The situation continues to deteriorate in the region, with Chad declaring a state of emergency recently in three of its eastern provinces. Rubenstein and Farrow met with U.N. officials and international observers, who are also receiving reports of raids and casualties by Sudanese soldiers throughout the North Darfur state.

Last week, the Sudanese government agreed in principle to allow a hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in the Darfur region, reversing its longstanding refusal to let in U.N. troops. The A.U. currently has a force of up to 7,400 troops in the region, but it has been largely unable to quell the violence or adequately protect civilians.