![[Sudan] Kaltum Saleh Adam in El Salaam IDP Camp, North Darfur. [Date picture taken: 09/10/2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/200691410.jpg.webp?itok=9L6VenLI "The new arrivals are mainly women and children")
Several thousand civilians who have fled armed militia attacks in Birmaza, North Darfur State, and sought shelter in nearby hills, have no blankets or food, and only limited access to water after bombings last week targeted water points, the United Nations said.
The attacks, allegedly carried out by Janjawid militias and Sudanese armed forces on 15 and 16 November, have been described by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) as "a flagrant violation of the security provisions" of the Darfur peace agreement. The attackers stole livestock and destroyed houses, prompted 3,000 civilians to flee.
The UN, in an update on the situation issued on Sunday, said another 5,000 civilians had fled attacks on 17 and 18 November in Jebel Mara area of West Darfur to shelter in mountains and internally displaced people (IDP) camps.
The deterioration in security has prompted the German NGO, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, to evacuate 18 of its staff who had been working in a food distribution centre in Birmaza. "Current fighting is cross-border and is threatening to destabilise the entire region," said Jörg Heinrich, Welthungerhilfe's Programme Manager for Sudan. "We couldn't expose our colleagues to this risk any longer." The pullout will affect almost half a million refugees.
The German NGO was the second to scale back operations in recent days. On 10 November, the Norwegian Refugee Council closed down its relief operations in South Darfur, also citing operational difficulties, in a move that affected 300,000 IDPs.
The increasingly fragile situation that has resulted from continuing attacks in the war-ravaged western Sudanese region prompted the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, on Saturday to urge Sudanese authorities to appeal to the Sudanese government to resolve the crisis. “Never would I have thought that the fear and angst of the civilian population of Darfur would remain the same after three long years,” Egeland told reporters in the capital Khartoum. "I met women yesterday in Geneina who were pleading for security."
Egeland had planned to visit IDPs but he was forced to cut short his trip to Darfur after being told by Sudanese officials that four of the six locations he planned to visit were inaccessible due to insecurity, compelling him to confine his visit to the main towns of El Geneina and El Fasher.
"I have one appeal to the government of Sudan," Egeland said. "Help us help your people."
He said he was optimistic about last Thursday’s high-level meeting in Addis Ababa, when Sudan said it would agree in principle to allow UN support in the region. It was attended by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the AU and representatives from the UN Security Council. A statement issued at its conclusion said: "A hybrid operation is agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force. The peacekeeping force will have a predominantly African character [but] backstopping and command and control structures will be provided by the UN."
Since the meeting, however, Sudan has sent out mixed messages, with some Sudanese officials expressing support for UN troops on the ground, and others saying Sudan will only accept financial and logistical aid from the UN. Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the official Sudan News Agency on Saturday that his government only agreed on a mixed operation with the role of the UN limited to providing units and technical assistance to AMIS.
"We did not agree on a mixed force," he said. "What we have agreed upon was that the force should remain African and be assisted by the United Nations. There is no way the main fighting force would be a mixed one." Sudan, he added, also had reservations over the proposed number of forces, which was put at 17,000.
At the moment the AU has 7,000 troops, but critics say the underfunded force has largely been unable to stem the violence, in which at least 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed. The conflict, which pits government forces and allied militias against rebels seeking greater autonomy, has displaced more than two million people.
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The attacks, allegedly carried out by Janjawid militias and Sudanese armed forces on 15 and 16 November, have been described by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) as "a flagrant violation of the security provisions" of the Darfur peace agreement. The attackers stole livestock and destroyed houses, prompted 3,000 civilians to flee.
The UN, in an update on the situation issued on Sunday, said another 5,000 civilians had fled attacks on 17 and 18 November in Jebel Mara area of West Darfur to shelter in mountains and internally displaced people (IDP) camps.
The deterioration in security has prompted the German NGO, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, to evacuate 18 of its staff who had been working in a food distribution centre in Birmaza. "Current fighting is cross-border and is threatening to destabilise the entire region," said Jörg Heinrich, Welthungerhilfe's Programme Manager for Sudan. "We couldn't expose our colleagues to this risk any longer." The pullout will affect almost half a million refugees.
The German NGO was the second to scale back operations in recent days. On 10 November, the Norwegian Refugee Council closed down its relief operations in South Darfur, also citing operational difficulties, in a move that affected 300,000 IDPs.
The increasingly fragile situation that has resulted from continuing attacks in the war-ravaged western Sudanese region prompted the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, on Saturday to urge Sudanese authorities to appeal to the Sudanese government to resolve the crisis. “Never would I have thought that the fear and angst of the civilian population of Darfur would remain the same after three long years,” Egeland told reporters in the capital Khartoum. "I met women yesterday in Geneina who were pleading for security."
Egeland had planned to visit IDPs but he was forced to cut short his trip to Darfur after being told by Sudanese officials that four of the six locations he planned to visit were inaccessible due to insecurity, compelling him to confine his visit to the main towns of El Geneina and El Fasher.
"I have one appeal to the government of Sudan," Egeland said. "Help us help your people."
He said he was optimistic about last Thursday’s high-level meeting in Addis Ababa, when Sudan said it would agree in principle to allow UN support in the region. It was attended by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the AU and representatives from the UN Security Council. A statement issued at its conclusion said: "A hybrid operation is agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force. The peacekeeping force will have a predominantly African character [but] backstopping and command and control structures will be provided by the UN."
Since the meeting, however, Sudan has sent out mixed messages, with some Sudanese officials expressing support for UN troops on the ground, and others saying Sudan will only accept financial and logistical aid from the UN. Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the official Sudan News Agency on Saturday that his government only agreed on a mixed operation with the role of the UN limited to providing units and technical assistance to AMIS.
"We did not agree on a mixed force," he said. "What we have agreed upon was that the force should remain African and be assisted by the United Nations. There is no way the main fighting force would be a mixed one." Sudan, he added, also had reservations over the proposed number of forces, which was put at 17,000.
At the moment the AU has 7,000 troops, but critics say the underfunded force has largely been unable to stem the violence, in which at least 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed. The conflict, which pits government forces and allied militias against rebels seeking greater autonomy, has displaced more than two million people.
[See related stories]
nk/eo/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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