UN refugee agency cuts Darfur budget on safety concerns

Mar 9, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The U.N. refugee agency announced it will slash its 2006 budget for Sudan’s troubled Darfur region by almost half because safety concerns have severely restricted its operations.

Thursday’s move comes two months after the United Nations imposed new safety restrictions on staff in Darfur, forcing UNHCR to withdraw some of its workers in the violence-wracked region, site of one of the world’s worst current humanitarian crises. For 2006, UNHCR has reduced its budget for Darfur from $33 million to $18.5 million.

Aid groups and many international diplomats have warned that the crisis continues unabated in Sudan, where three years of violence has left some 180,000 dead – most from disease and hunger – and displaced another 2 million from their homes. Sudan’s government and rebels in Darfur have made little headway in peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria.

“Armed clashes, banditry and attacks targeting civilians, including internally displaced people, continue to occur with increasing frequency,” UNHCR said.

The African Union has deployed 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur. In January, ambassadors on the African Union’s Peace and Security Council agreed in principle to hand over peacekeeping to the United Nations, which would greatly expand the force. But the African Union has delayed making a decision.

U.N. Humanitarian Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland expressed frustration with the lack of a decision, and warned that Darfur could see “massive loss of life” if an agreement isn’t reached soon. He said aid workers were being forced to withdraw, leaving civilians even more vulnerable.

“We’re hanging in by our fingernails and it’s slipping in many areas at the moment,” Egeland told a news conference. “We could see a dramatic increase in the loss of life very soon.”

(ST/AP)