NUMBER OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS INCREASES IN DARFUR, SAYS UN HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS OFFICE

NUMBER OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS INCREASES IN DARFUR,

SAYS UN HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS OFFICE

NEW YORK, 19 July (OCHA) -– Last month, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur grew by approximately 100,000.  As of 1 July, there were more than 1 million IDPs in the region.  Progress has been made in meeting their needs, although significant gaps remain.

Presently, humanitarian agencies are worried about recent attacks targeting humanitarian agencies.  They are also concerned about the increasing pressure the Sudanese Government is putting on internally displaced persons to return to their villages or other relocation sites.  Examples include the forced relocation of approximately 4,000 IDPs from El Meshtel to Abu Shouk camp in North Darfur, and of some 7,000 individuals from Nyala to Kalma camp in South Darfur.  Agencies are also seriously concerned about the planned relocation of IDPs in West Darfur’s Mornei camp, one of Darfur’s largest.

In South Darfur, recent fighting has led IDPs to congregate in a camp called Otash, on the outskirts of the town of Nyala.  There are 2,300 families currently in the camp, with approximately 30-50 persons arriving daily.  In Kass, approximately  60 per cent of women had suffered physical and sexual abuse when they ventured out of the town to collect firewood.  Although between six to 12 policemen are now present on the site, the IDPs still do not feel secure.

The body set up to monitor the United Nations and Sudan’s Joint Communiqué, by which the Sudan pledged to facilitate humanitarian access to Darfur, met on Saturday.  At the meeting, United Nations officials said that, although humanitarian access had improved, there had been no progress on the security and protection of IDPs in the region.  Instead, air raids and attacks by the Janjaweed and Government-aligned militias were making IDPs too afraid to return to their villages.

The Sudanese Government had introduced a less burdensome notification system for humanitarian movement in North Darfur.  However, there had since been reports of traffic being stopped at checkpoints because security officials could not recognize the new forms.  In addition, agencies were experiencing difficulties when hiring national health staff.  The number of international humanitarian workers in the region was expected to continue to increase from 170 at the end of May to a predicted 500 by the end of July.  Nevertheless, some eastern areas of West Darfur, as well as northern North Darfur and the Jebel Marra area, still lacked a much-needed humanitarian presence.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Madelaine Moulin-Acevedo, OCHA Geneva, tel: 41 22 917 3160.

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