RELIEF SUPPLIES BEING STOLEN FROM RECIPIENTS IN SUDAN

RELIEF SUPPLIES BEING STOLEN FROM RECIPIENTS IN SUDAN

NEW YORK, 27 February (OCHA) -– Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan’s Darfur region report that armed militias are robbing them of the aid they have received from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Nearly three weeks after Sudan’s President Al Bashir promised improvements in access for humanitarian workers, IDPs in Sudan’s Darfur region are reporting that they are still being systematically attacked by militia who burn homes, rape, extort and kidnap.  The looting of food supplies from aid recipients has caused the World Food Programme (WFP) to consider feeding recipients directly, rather than supplying them with rations that could be stolen.  In one village, security concerns are so severe that residents even asked UN staff not to distribute relief supplies, fearing the aid would make them the target for attack by militias.

Though humanitarian workers can only reach an estimated 25 per cent of people in need in Darfur, United Nations agencies are working to scale up their operations in there.  A 13-member United Nations Rapid Response Team has arrived in Nyala, El Geneina and El Fasher, the three capitals of Darfur region of the Sudan.  As the team assesses humanitarian needs in and around the capitals, United Nations agencies are delivering and pre-positioning food and other supplies for 250,000 IDPs.  These include food, water, medical supplies, plastic sheeting and an anti-meningitis immunization campaign for 60,000 children.

Throughout Darfur, those affected by the conflict include 700,000 IDPs and 110,000 refugees in neighbouring Chad.  For months, most have remained beyond the reach of agencies trying to provide essential humanitarian aid.

Since the fighting started between rebel groups, militias and the Government of the Sudan a year ago, the United Nations has consistently received reports of systematic raids against civilian populations.  These attacks have reportedly included burning and looting of villages, large-scale killings, and abductions.  Humanitarian workers have also been targeted, with staff being abducted and relief trucks looted.

The Darfur region covers roughly one fifth of Sudan’s territory and is home to 6 million people.  The Sudan, Africa’s largest country, is also home to its longest running conflict.  It is estimated that more than 2 million people have died because of Sudan’s conflict and that 4 million people have been driven from their homes.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel: (917) 367-5126, mobile: (917) 892-1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel: 41 22 917 2653, mobile: 41(0) 79 473 4570.

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