UN wants Sudan to lift Darfur camp blockade, JEM calls for UNSC special session

August 10, 2010 (WASHINGTON) — The United Nations today called on the Sudanese government to lift its blockade of Kalma IDP camp in the western region of Darfur and allow aid groups in as it started running low on food and fuel supplies.

“[T]he [Sudanese] Government must resume full humanitarian access to Kalma and to surrounding areas where displaced people have fled. And UNAMID continues to be engaged with the Government at all levels to peacefully resolve the situation and ensure protection for all IDPs and civilians. UNAMID has also stepped up patrols in and around Kalma and is on high alert” said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky today in his daily press briefing.

“We are concerned about the shortages of food and fuel. Deliveries have stopped and fuel for water pumps has run out. And so, obviously, sanitation is a major concern, because it’s the middle of the rainy season” Nesirky added.
Kalma, one of the largest camps Darfur and home of around 100,000 people, was the theatre of bloody clashes between the supporters of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) of Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and others who back the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) who are negotiating with the Sudanese government in Doha.

The Sudanese government has demanded that the African Union-United Nations peacekeepers (UNAMID) turn over six individuals it says are behind the violence. So far UNAMID has rejected Khartoum’s demand saying it wants full guarantees that they will be treated in a humane manner and prosecuted in accordance with international standards.

The South Darfur governor said that he intends to dismantle the camp soon saying it has become a “military base and political platform” for Al-Nur.
Frank Donaghue, CEO of Physicians for Human Rights, warned that “the camps aren’t capable of sustaining life.”

“Without food, water and medicine, the people in the camps will begin to die, just as surely as if the government were attacking them with conventional weapons,” he said in a statement published by Associated Press.

The Save Darfur Coalition called the Sudanese government’s behaviour “atrocious” and said its denial of humanitarian aid and threats to relocate the Kalma camp was leaving families even more vulnerable to hunger and disease.

The coalition urged the United States and the international community to pressure the government to allow immediate, unimpeded access for U.N. agencies and humanitarian organizations.

The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to convene an emergency meeting to discuss what they described as the deteriorating humanitarian condition in Kalma.

“What is happening right now is an ongoing genocide and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. The UNSC must live up to its responsibilities and intervene swiftly to stop Khartoum from further starving the IDP’s” JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein said.

Hussein criticized the U.N. and UNAMID saying they are “shockingly” silent over the gravity of Khartoum’s actions towards the IDP’s.

(ST)