UNITED NATIONS RESOLVED TO CONTINUE WORKING IN DARFUR DESPITE RISKS

 

NEW YORK, 2 February (OCHA) -- Despite strong appeals from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations operating in Darfur, threats against the world’s largest relief operation have become even more severe, warned Margareta Wahlström, United Nations Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator.  “ Darfur was already one of the most dangerous areas for relief workers in 2005.  But security incidents involving relief workers surged by another 67 per cent in 2006,” she said.  “Even more disturbing is that security incidents involving internally displaced people have more than tripled.  All parties have to act now to stop these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

There are 13,000 relief workers in Darfur trying to reach a total of 4 million people with life-saving assistance, including more than 2 million internally displaced.  Unrelenting violence and direct targeting of civilians led to the displacement of nearly 500,000 people in 2006 and more than 25,000 in January of this year.  At the same time, most roads are either “no-go” or highly insecure, in particular the main humanitarian supply routes in North and West Darfur.  As a result, aid workers are forced to rely on prohibitively expensive helicopter transport to keep operations going in many areas.

“Every day there are more people who need our help, yet our colleagues are being threatened by all sides,” Ms. Wahlström said.  Different armed groups and rebel factions have been hijacking humanitarian vehicles and attacking relief workers at an alarming rate, including the brutal assault on non-governmental organization compounds in Gereida, South Darfur, on 18 December 2006.  The killing of an African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) civilian police officer inside an internally displaced persons camp in North Darfur only yesterday (1 February) underscores the lethal nature of these threats.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was also appalled by the assault on 20 United Nations and non-governmental organization colleagues committed by Government police and national security officials in Nyala on 19 January.  The staff were arrested and subjected to verbal and severe physical assault while in custody.  “We have been promised a full investigation into this terrible incident,” Ms. Wahlström said.  “The Government has to ensure that the perpetrators will be held accountable, and send a strong message that it will not tolerate attacks against relief workers by its own officials or anyone else.”

“Despite the attacks on aid workers, we are resolved to continue working in Darfur, adapting our operations as necessary to ensure that the most vulnerable in Darfur receive at least a minimum level of relief,” concluded Ms. Wahlström.  “Most important of all, we need all parties to stop the fighting and attacks.  We finally need an effective ceasefire, after almost four years of relentless violence.”

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA- New York, tel.:  +1 917 367 5126, mobile:  +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA- New York, tel.:  +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, tel.:  +41 22 917 2653, mobile:  +41 79 473 4570.  OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.

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For information media • not an official record