Darfur relief operation could collapse, warns Egeland

Rampant insecurity, government obstruction and reduced international support have hampered lifesaving relief operations for millions of people in the troubled western Sudanese Darfur region, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council on Thursday. "I think it’s a matter of weeks or months that we will have a collapse in many of our operations," Jan Egeland, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters after briefing the Council on the crises in Darfur, northern Uganda and Chad. "As I told the Security Council today, I don’t think the world has understood how bad it has become of late." Some 200,000 people have been displaced in the last three or four months alone as a result of ongoing insecurity - in addition to the 1.6 million who were already displaced. More than 3 million people are in need of daily humanitarian assistance, Egeland said, with 210,000 of them urgently requiring food. Government obstruction has hampered an effective humanitarian response, observed Egeland, who was barred by the Sudanese government from travelling to Darfur during a recent visit to Sudan. The expulsion of a major aid group that was caring for 90,000 people, and delays in travel permits, visas and clearance for imported relief items and equipment, were other examples of disproportionate government restrictions, Egeland said. A new law governing the work of NGOs and civil society, the Organisation of Voluntary and Humanitarian Work Act, allows increased levels of government control over NGO activities, including limitations on organising meetings, the regulation of funding through a governmental-approval system and the ability to close organisations and seize their assets. Fuel restrictions in mid-March jeopardised the delivery of clean drinking water to more than 90,000 displaced people in a camp in South Darfur and other areas when the government refused to allow fuel to be used for the water pumps. Despite the growing need, Egeland said the world was turning its back on Darfur. "Maybe this world in 2006 is only able to run sprints and not marathons," Egeland observed. "Because this is a marathon. In 2005, we had more diplomatic support than we’ve had in 2006. We had more funding, [and] we had more pressure on the parties than we’ve had this year." In the face of Sudanese government hostility to a UN operation and continuing attacks against the civilian population in Darfur, political support from the Security Council would be critical for an effective mission to protect civilians, the international watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) stressed in a statement on Friday. "A UN mission could help to stop the atrocious attacks on civilians in Darfur, but only if it’s given the means to act aggressively," said Peter Takirambudde, HRW’s Africa director. "It needs a tough mandate, real resources and political support. The Security Council must authorize it to use all necessary means to protect civilians." The 6,898-member African Union Mission in Darfur (AMIS), which includes 4,760 armed personnel, has had limited success stabilising the region and preventing attacks on civilians. It has itself come under armed attack. "The UN mission must be much larger, more mobile and better-equipped than the AMIS force," said Takirambudde. "The Security Council should approve at least 20,000 troops to deter unlawful attacks, backed by a substantial international civilian police force and support personnel."