UN says many Darfur camps full as thousands flee

June 6, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Many camps for those who have fled violence in Darfur are full as thousands more civilians are driven from their homes in the western Sudanese region, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

U.N. spokesman George Somerwill also told reporters that 67 vehicles belonging to the world’s largest aid operation in Darfur had been hijacked or attacked so far this year and voiced concern at the increasingly violent nature of those attacks.

“Nearly 140,000 people have been identified as newly displaced since the beginning of the year, with at least 10,000 on the move in May,” he told a news conference in Khartoum.

“A very visible consequence of the continued displacement is the swelling population of … camps — many of which can no longer absorb any new arrivals,” he added.

Fighting between numerous rebel factions, militia and government troops in Darfur has driven 2.5 million people from their homes and international experts estimate 200,000 have been killed since the revolt began in early 2003.

Khartoum puts the figure much lower at 9,000.

The violence has also affected the 14,000 aid workers in Darfur, making it difficult to reach those in need.

Somerwill said there continued to be a high rate of attacks against aid workers.

“The increasing use of physical and mental violence used during the hijackings is of serious concern.”

“Abductions, though temporary, are also more and more common,” he added. It is not always clear who is responsible for the attacks but rebels often loot aid convoys.

Rebels accuse central government of neglecting the remote west. The government mobilised militia to quell the insurgency. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a militia leader and a junior government minister accused of conspiring to commit war crimes in Darfur.

Khartoum refuses to hand them over to the court.

The United Nations, which is at loggerheads with Khartoum over its refusal to allow a substantial U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur, already has a 10,000-strong force monitoring a separate north-south 2005 peace deal.

On Wednesday, Robert Turner, head of the U.N. department for the return of southerners displaced by the north-south war, said 100,000 had returned home to the south with help from the world body since January 2006.

But those returns may stop in July if donors did not give funds quickly.

“(We) have received only $16.5 million against a total requirement … of $68 million,” he said.

(Reuters)