Cut bureaucracy to allow aid to Darfur, says US

The US government has called on Sudan to allow aid workers into the war-torn western region of Darfur, where it said aid was being effectively blocked by bureaucracy. "By delaying access to humanitarian relief organisations and the international community, the government of Sudan is preventing assistance from reaching their own citizens, many of whom are in desperate need," the US State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, told reporters on Tuesday. He said US aid workers were continuing to have problems getting into Darfur, currently considered to be the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "The government has continued to play games with travel permits while the humanitarian situation in Darfur has deteriorated," he said. Three-day permits had been issued to some US aid workers, but after the three days had expired, he added. Three levels of bureaucracy have to be surmounted before staff can reach their projects, leading to weeks of delay, according to Roger Winter, the assistant director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID): Firstly, NGO workers have to obtain visas to enter Sudan; secondly, they have to obtain travel permits, which are frequently delayed or denied; thirdly, aid workers need daily travel permits to leave the regional capitals to visit project sites. The government also "frequently impounds vehicles and holds them for months when they are urgently needed for emergency operations", Winter told the US Committee on International Relations on 6 May. "They [the government] say we want to help the people in Darfur," said Boucher. "But their actions tend to belie that statement." "We're deeply disturbed by the failure of the government of Sudan to provide free and unfettered access to Darfur to all humanitarian aid agencies, and we call on the government of Sudan to suspend, entirely, the requirement for such permits for the duration of the crisis in Darfur." The government of Sudan has said it is keen to find a solution to the conflict in Darfur, and repeatedly denied allegations of ethnic cleansing of non-Arabs and a scorched-earth policy. Just last week, a statement issued on 12 May by the Sudanese foreign ministry said: "The government has reiterated its keenness to achieve a lasting solution to the problem of Darfur, as well as normalisation of the situation and maintaining stability there." In February, President Umar Hasan al-Bashir declared victory over the Darfur-based rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, promising to unlock humanitarian access to the region. He announced "a plan to alleviate the suffering of displaced persons and others affected by the recent conflict", which would be "enforced immediately", as well as "unfettered access to humanitarian aid" from national and international NGOs via a series of "safe corridors". The war continued, and the promises regarding access never came to fruition, relief workers said. The International Crisis Group think-tank said this week that at least 100,000 people in Darfur would die of hunger and disease as a direct result of the conflict, while USAID is predicting that hundreds of thousands may die. As fighting and militia attacks in Darfur continue, despite a humanitarian ceasefire signed by the parties on 8 April, the Sudanese government has said fewer NGOs would be permitted to operate in the region. On Sunday, NGOs in Darfur were accused of partiality during a press conference in Khartoum held by Interior Minister Abd al-Rahim Husayn and Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmud Hamid. For this reason, "the authorities will be careful in permitting such NGOs to operate in Darfur," Hamid was quoted as saying. The UN reported this week that the government had specifically accused two NGOS of supporting rebels, and deported a senior staff member from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who was coordinating the aid response in southern Darfur. The delaying of aid "called into question the commitment of the government of Sudan and their concern for the wellbeing of Sudanese citizens," said Boucher. In a separate development, on Tuesday the US took Sudan off its list of countries deemed uncooperative in the war against terrorism, but kept it on a list of "state sponsors of terrorism". Boucher said Sudan had taken a number of positive steps on cooperation against terrorism over the past few years, but remained on the state terrorism list because of the presence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Sudan, "and some other concerns". He cautioned that even if ongoing peace talks between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army succeeded, Sudan should not expect "a significant flow" of aid or assistance until "their [government's] behaviour in Darfur has changed". Five countries were not cooperating fully with US anti-terrorism efforts, said the State Department website: Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Syria. The sale or licence for export of any defence articles or services were therefore prohibited until 2005, it added.