Before Alex Neve went to Darfur as part of an Amnesty International (Canada) research team, he had read reports of the conflict in the African region and had been to other trouble zones in the past.

For the first time though, the secretary general for Amnesty International (Canada) found himself on the front lines of a conflict that is only getting worse, he told reporters this morning in Whitehorse.

In the past, his work has taken him to regions where the situation has reached its lowest point.

'It was very despairing,' said Neve, who will speak in Whitehorse this evening.

What was staggering about the situation was seeing how immense the crisis was and seeing how the Chad government has abandoned its citizens in the eastern region as the Darfur situation moves across the border, he added.

Neve will share his experience on Darfur and Chad with the public this evening in a free lecture at Yukon College. The discussion is being presented as part of the Maddison Chair series, named after former Yukon Supreme Court Justice Harry Maddison.

For four years, the Darfur region of the Sudan has been the site of attacks by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia group, on various groups of black Africans.

Neve noted more than two million people have been forced to flee their homes, with 250,000 killed and countless women raped.

In some cases where those attacked have attempted to go home in the hopes of finding food, they have been met with further attacks.

Describing Darfur as a 'scorched earth war zone', Neve noted the Amnesty research team went to Chad because the Sudan government would not let them into the country. Many of victims of the Darfur are now in refugee camps in Chad.

'Chad is as close as we can get,' he said.

Chad, he found, was in much the same situation as Darfur.

'Now it's the same thing,' he said.

The conflict has many dimensions, Neve said. While it is centred around ethnic groups, he noted there is not a religious element to the situation. Both the black African groups and the Janjaweed are Muslims.

There has often been tension and strife around land in Darfur as the Arab community is a herder population wanting land and the African population is more agriculturally-based, and also wanting land.

The Janjaweed has felt emboldened from the Sudan government to make a land grab, which has gone beyond that and become an ethnic-cleansing, Neve said.

'You see that in the pattern of the attacks,' he said.

With little luck persuading the Sudan government to take action on the matter, Amnesty International has started looking at trying to persuade the Chinese government to use its influence on the Sudan to see it take action.

'China's been rather silent,' he said, noting that in many cases China has abstained from UN votes on initiatives for the situation.

China's influence over the Sudan though is significant as China uses a lot of oil from the country. It's expected the Chinese influence throughout Africa will continue to grow with the large amount of natural resources in the country.

Although the UN has passed resolutions to send in peacekeeping forces, it has to have the consent of the Sudanese government.

There's no doubt about what the outcome would be if the UN went in without consent, Neve said.

'It would be war if the UN invaded,' he said, adding that wouldn't help the situation.

Everyone recognizes the conflict has to be resolved on the diplomatic front, he said.

Meanwhile, in Chad, Neve noted the government doesn't appear to be even trying to deal with the conflict in the eastern region, an area that has never had a lot of power with the larger government.

Chad is a large country, with a small population that's spread out. It also has a fairly small military, Neve said. That means that even if the will was there to do something, its military force may not be enough.

It seems the government has made a conscience choice that political survival is more important than the civilian population, Neve suggested.

In 2006, Amnesty International made three trips to the region to research the conflict, he noted.

Part of Neve's work is sharing that research and experience with others through events like tonight's session so the word can get out to others to get involved.

While the Internet continues to play a central role in activism and providing information on getting involved, Neve commented that one of the best ways to bring the issue to the forefront is by talking in-person.

Amnesty International, Neve said, provides concrete ways for people to take action on issues such as the Darfur situation through writing letters to officials and other initiatives. The organization was founded on the collective power of people being a force for change, he said.

Neve will address interested students at Vanier Catholic Secondary school this afternoon before his public presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. at Yukon College.