E.U. sends 20 million euros in emergency aid to Darfur

BRUSSELS, Aug 25, 2004 (dpa) — The European Commission on Wednesday said it had earmarked 20 million euros in humanitarian aid for victims of the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The aid will help provide food and nutritional support, shelter, access to clean water and sanitation, emergency health care and protection for vulnerable civilians for thousands of people in the region, officials in Brussels said.

“The humanitarian situation in Darfur is still extremely worrying, and by all accounts could deteriorate further,” Poul Nielson, E.U. Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Development said in a statement.

Nielson also appealed for access to the region for international aid workers and urged a peaceful solution to the conflict between government and rebel forces.

“All armed groups must bring this violence to an end once and for all. The people of Darfur have already suffered too much,” he added.

The Commission – the executive agency of the European Union – said that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur was currently the “worst in the world” following the outbreak of hostilities in February 2003.

About 2.2 million people – a third of the entire population of the Darfur region – are badly affected, the Commission said, adding that 1.2 million people had been displaced within Sudan and approximately 200,000 people had fled across the border into Chad.

“The aid delivery effort is running out of time as the rainy season has already begun and many farmers have not been able to plant due to displacement and insecurity,” it added.

Officials said the new package was in addition to an estimated 104 million euros already sent to the region by the E.U.

The E.U. announcement came after the United Nations appealed for additional aid for victims of the Darfur crisis.

The 18-month old conflict in Darfur started when two groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebelled against the Sudanese government, saying they were not being given a fair share of the country,s resources.

The government then allegedly unleashed the Arab Janjaweed militia, arming them and giving them air support. The militias have since raped and killed thousands of civilians in Darfur, according to reports by aid and human rights organizations.