He called for more international involvement to stem the violence.

"The situation (in the east) is deteriorating. We are concerned that it could be a Darfur in the making," said Senator Mobina Jaffer, who returned from the country a few weeks ago.

Nearly 300,000 people have died in the Darfur region since the beginning of 2003 and more than two million people have been displaced by fighting between rebels and government forces, according to UN estimates.