Insecurity remains major hindrance to humanitarian work in Darfur - UN

Insecurity and clashes between the various armed groups in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur have continued to hinder efforts by humanitarian organisations to reach some of the people affected by the conflict there, a UN spokeswoman said on Tuesday. During the month of August, an estimated 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur could not be reached by aid workers because of clashes between armed groups and general insecurity, Jennifer Abrahamson, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN by telephone from Khartoum. Some 70,000 of those who could not be reached were in South Darfur, 25,000 in North Darfur and another 5,000 in West Darfur, Abrahamson said. "It is a relatively fluid situation. Insecurity remains an enormous concern for us," she added. According to OCHA'S latest situation report on Darfur, clashes between Sudanese government forces and fighters of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) on 18 September in Bobay Sifili village, 71 km west of El Fasher, had prevented an inter-agency team from commencing assessment of villages in Tawilla rural areas in North Darfur. A similar incident was reported on 16 September in Ailliet, about 250 km south east of El Fasher. In South Darfur, banditry continued to be reported on major routes in the region, according to the report. On 16 September the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that a privately contracted lorry moving WFP commodities out of El Daein had been stopped 13 km north of the town (on the Muhujarija route) in Kiliekle by unidentified gunmen. Abrahamson however noted that humanitarian agencies had at the same time been able to reach conflict-affected people in some other areas that were previously inaccessible. According to the OCHA report, increased access last week to areas controlled by the rebel SLA, particularly in Jebel Marras, had enabled non-governmental organisations to expand their operations there. WFP reported that the arrival of approximately 100 additional trucks in the Darfur region had further facilitated the timely dispatch of food to accessible areas. Despite increased interventions, the World Health Organization's (WHO) retrospective mortality survey released last week, which looked at the crude mortality rate of IDPs in the period between 15 June - 15 August, had shown that death rates were not yet under control during the reporting period. In North Darfur, the survey estimated that the crude mortality rate was about three times the expected rate for Africa, while in West Darfur the rate was six times greater. In Kalma camp, the rate was seven times greater that the expected level of 0.5 deaths per 10,000 a day. According to the survey, the estimates suggested the humanitarian situation was still in the emergency phase - recognised as more than one death per 10,000 a day. The main cause of death was reported to be diarrhoea, indicating a need for additional interventions in the water and sanitation sector, the OCHA report said. The conflict in Darfur pits the Sudanese military and militias said to be allied to the government against rebels fighting to end alleged marginalisation and discrimination of Darfur residents by the state. The militias, locally known as Janjawid, have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. The fighting, which erupted early last year, has displaced more than 1.4 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described problems caused by the fighting in Darfur as currently the worst humanitarian crises in the world.