IDPs return to camps in North Darfur as clashes subside

Clashes between Sudanese government forces and rebels in North Darfur state have subsided and several thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had fled their camps, have returned over the last few days, the UN said. "The situation is relatively calm now," Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN on Tuesday. "There has been no fighting for two days now and some IDPs have returned to their camps, although a few hundred want to join other camps." A team of UN and African Union officials, the spokesperson added, had visited Tawillah, where the most intense clashes occured, after government troops took back the town, to assess the situation and try to locate IDPs who had fled their camps, but had not yet returned. In a situation report issued on Sunday, the UN said relief agencies had been concerned about the further displacement of populations during last week's insecurity. Most of the approximately 40,000 residents and IDPs in the Tawillah area and 6,000 IDPs in Thabit had fled to nearby locations. The report said about 3,000 of the IDPs had returned to Tawillah over the last few days. Another 3,000 had reportedly returned to Dali camp south of Tawillah, while some 300 Tawillah IDPs had arrived at Abu Shouk in the last two days. "The location of the rest of the displaced populations is not yet clear," the report said. The report, however, noted that on 25 November, eight IDP children including seven girls and one boy were stopped by men in military uniform approximately 10 km northwest of Abu Shouk near the El Fasher-Mellit checkpoint. Four of the girls were reportedly raped and the other children were physically assaulted. Daniel Augstburger of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told IRIN on Tuesday the situation in Darfur had remained extremely fluid. "Access for humanitarian relief is much easier than before and many services are being delivered to IDPs," Augstburger, who had just returned from Sudan, said. "There is little full-out fighting, but a lot of violent incidents still occur. "Both the government of Sudan and rebel groups continue to violate the ceasefire agreement," he added. "IDPs are being targeted within IDP camps. It is the responsibility of the government to protect these civilians while the SLA [the rebel Sudan Liberation Army] should stop hiding themselves among innocent civilians." Sudanese troops and SLA fighters clashed days after the UN Security Council, which met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November, adopted a resolution demanding that the government, rebel forces and other armed groups in Darfur cease all violence and ensure that their members comply with international humanitarian law. On 22 November, the humanitarian agency Save the Children (SCF) flew its staff out of Tawillah as a result of the fighting. "Both sides have demonstrated utter disregard for the ceasefire," Toby Porter, director of emergencies at SCF said in a statement. According to relief workers, the SLA launched attacks on government positions, taking control of Tawillah. The rebels had earlier attacked the West Darfur town of El-Geraida, forced the police to leave and raised their flag in the town. Some 50-60 SLA fighters also attacked a police station in a camp for displaced people near Kalma, in South Darfur, killing a policeman. Three SLA fighters also died. The clashes forced the UN World Food Programme to temporarily suspend its operations, except in the state capital El-Fasher, affecting some 300,000 people. The UN condemned escalating violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan, saying it threatened ongoing relief activities, violated recently signed ceasefire accords between the government and rebels, and placed tens of thousands of civilians at risk. Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) has earmarked €51 million (US $67,697,000) in humanitarian aid for the victims of conflict in Sudan, including €31 million ($41,149,400) for the people affected by the crisis in the Darfur region. "This aid package will help provide the victims with food and nutritional support, shelter, access to clean water and sanitation, emergency health care and protection for vulnerable civilians," the EC said in a statement on Friday. "The aid will be channelled by ECHO, the EC's humanitarian aid department." The statement quoted Louis Michel, the newly appointed Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Development, as saying in Khartoum: "Yesterday I saw for myself the situation on the ground in Darfur - It is high time that the many promises of peace made so far are respected, once and for all. I call upon all armed groups to stop violence against civilians and allow aid workers to do their difficult and vital job as safely as possible." Indigenous communities in Darfur took up arms in February 2003, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir’s government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians. About 1.45 million people have been displaced and the Janjawid stand accused of perpetrating atrocities. Another 200,000 people from the region are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.