Security worsening for those displaced in Darfur - CARE

The humanitarian agency CARE said on Monday that insecurity was worsening in the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur and warned that those displaced by the conflict would not be able to return to their homes in the near future unless security was restored. "Insecurity in Darfur is increasing, leaving victims of violence more vulnerable and more desperate. Unless the Government of Sudan, supported by the African Union [AU] and the international community, can ensure safety and security in the region, people will continue to live in fear and be unable to move out of their dismal, temporary housing and return home," CARE-USA said in a statement. According to CARE, fighting between government and rebel forces had intensified in September and that cases of banditry had increased. Insecurity had forced more people to flee their homes, causing a continued influx of people into camps in South Darfur State in particular. "People are traumatized by the atrocities they have suffered, and their living conditions are grim," Geoffrey Chege, CARE's regional director for East and Central Africa who recently visited Darfur, said in the statement. "Women are so afraid of rape that they dread going for firewood and water. Male relatives cannot escort them for fear they will be killed," he added. To improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur, CARE suggested the following measures: the Sudanese government should bring an immediate end to atrocities and further displacement of people; the African Union, with the endorsement of the United Nations, should substantially increase the number of monitors, and expand their mandate to protect civilians, and the international community should increase financial and logistical support for AU monitors and protection forces. CARE also suggested that the United Nations should maintain pressure on the Sudanese government and rebel groups to ensure humanitarian access to people in need, and that donors should honour commitments to provide adequate humanitarian assistance, of which, according to the statement, there was a severe shortfall. The conflict in Darfur pits the Sudanese military and militias said to be allied with 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 about 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. In Khartoum, however, Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir, told parliament that his government was determined to resolve the Darfur crisis by adopting policies that would "repair the social fabric and strengthen the civil administration by granting it legal, judicial and administrative powers". Bashir, in an address carried live on Sudanese TV on Monday, said: "There are objective reasons for the disturbance which the [Darfur] region has faced [...] the tribal strife, armed robbery, scarcity of resources and poor services, despite the unparalleled efforts by the current government to improve the situation." But he added that there were "foreign agendas working to exaggerate the problems to undermine" the Sudanese people. "In order to face up to the challenges of the foreign agendas, we came up with a security plan to guarantee the security of the camps, corridors used by humanitarian aid workers, nomads and public transport, by deploying a large number of the police force, and identifying a particular place where displaced people can return to voluntarily. We have also carried out extensive security measures to pursue armed bandits and outlaws," he added.