![[Sudan] Armed men from the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) in Gereida town, south Darfur, Sudan, 24 February 2006. Despite a May peace deal, the UN says violence and displacement have increased in the region.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20069189.jpg.webp?itok=2JR4VJYx "Sudan Liberation Army fighters in Gereida town, South Darfur")
More aid workers have been relocated in western Sudanese region of Darfur following Monday’s attack on Gereida, South Darfur State, bringing the numbers of humanitarian staff moved in December to a record 400, the United Nations said.
The relocations are the highest in one month since a large-scale humanitarian operation in Darfur began in 2004.
Gereida has the largest number of displaced people – 130,000 - in the region. About 20 armed men attacked several NGO compounds, harassing staff and stealing vehicles, communication equipment and money, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
Two agencies, Oxfam and Action Contre le Faim, stopped operations entirely after they lost 12 vehicles. "We had six vehicles there and five were stolen," Oxfam spokesman, Alun McDonald, said. "We can’t get in and out of the camp. Our operations have been suspended entirely."
In London, the British International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, condemned the attacks.
"The attacks are the culmination of a series of incidents directed at agencies working in Darfur over the last few weeks, and there is now a very real danger of the humanitarian situation deteriorating rapidly if agencies have to suspend or reduce their operations because of continuing security concerns," Benn said.
"The armed attacks were clearly well planned, being launched on the compounds of Oxfam and Action Contre la Faim simultaneously."
Describing the attack as "crippling", the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Manuel Aranda da Silva, told reporters in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday: "It is a big blow. Oxfam is critical there for water [supplies]. And ACF delivers food. So it is a very serious incident. Humanitarian access has been deteriorating since last year, but it has been much worse in the last month."
After the attack, 71 aid workers were moved from Gereida to Nyala, OCHA stated. "How can we expect them to carry out humanitarian work without vehicles to get to camps, phones to communicate, and the constant threat to their own physical safety? This is preventing humanitarian organisations from providing life-saving assistance," Da Silva warned.
The attack occurred in a region that is a stronghold of one faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Minni Minnawi. The faction was the only one that signed the 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement with the government of Sudan. But violence in the region has escalated, despite the DPA, as Sudanese forces, supported by Arab Janjawid militias, attack civilians and aid workers in their battles with rebels.
A spokesman for Minnawi denied any involvement in the Gereida incident. "It is not reasonable that we would attack an area that is under our control," Saif Haroun told IRIN on Wednesday.
Last week, several leading aid agencies warned that recent attacks by armed militias in North, South and West Darfur States had destabilised the region further and forced aid agencies to evacuate staff, in a move that could have a devastating impact on displaced civilians. According to the agencies, more than 480,000 people have been affected by renewed clashes.
At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died since the Darfur conflict began in 2003 between government forces, allied militias and rebels seeking greater autonomy. More than two million people are displaced inside Sudan and in neighbouring Chad.
On Tuesday, the UN said humanitarian, recovery and development projects in the country would require at least US $1.8 billion in 2007. Twelve humanitarian workers have been killed in Darfur since May.
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The relocations are the highest in one month since a large-scale humanitarian operation in Darfur began in 2004.
Gereida has the largest number of displaced people – 130,000 - in the region. About 20 armed men attacked several NGO compounds, harassing staff and stealing vehicles, communication equipment and money, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
Two agencies, Oxfam and Action Contre le Faim, stopped operations entirely after they lost 12 vehicles. "We had six vehicles there and five were stolen," Oxfam spokesman, Alun McDonald, said. "We can’t get in and out of the camp. Our operations have been suspended entirely."
In London, the British International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, condemned the attacks.
"The attacks are the culmination of a series of incidents directed at agencies working in Darfur over the last few weeks, and there is now a very real danger of the humanitarian situation deteriorating rapidly if agencies have to suspend or reduce their operations because of continuing security concerns," Benn said.
"The armed attacks were clearly well planned, being launched on the compounds of Oxfam and Action Contre la Faim simultaneously."
Describing the attack as "crippling", the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Manuel Aranda da Silva, told reporters in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday: "It is a big blow. Oxfam is critical there for water [supplies]. And ACF delivers food. So it is a very serious incident. Humanitarian access has been deteriorating since last year, but it has been much worse in the last month."
After the attack, 71 aid workers were moved from Gereida to Nyala, OCHA stated. "How can we expect them to carry out humanitarian work without vehicles to get to camps, phones to communicate, and the constant threat to their own physical safety? This is preventing humanitarian organisations from providing life-saving assistance," Da Silva warned.
The attack occurred in a region that is a stronghold of one faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Minni Minnawi. The faction was the only one that signed the 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement with the government of Sudan. But violence in the region has escalated, despite the DPA, as Sudanese forces, supported by Arab Janjawid militias, attack civilians and aid workers in their battles with rebels.
A spokesman for Minnawi denied any involvement in the Gereida incident. "It is not reasonable that we would attack an area that is under our control," Saif Haroun told IRIN on Wednesday.
Last week, several leading aid agencies warned that recent attacks by armed militias in North, South and West Darfur States had destabilised the region further and forced aid agencies to evacuate staff, in a move that could have a devastating impact on displaced civilians. According to the agencies, more than 480,000 people have been affected by renewed clashes.
At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died since the Darfur conflict began in 2003 between government forces, allied militias and rebels seeking greater autonomy. More than two million people are displaced inside Sudan and in neighbouring Chad.
On Tuesday, the UN said humanitarian, recovery and development projects in the country would require at least US $1.8 billion in 2007. Twelve humanitarian workers have been killed in Darfur since May.
nk/mw/eo
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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