Sudan’s Southern Darfur State raps Care International

KHARTOUM, May 4, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — The Governor of Southern Darfur State, Al-Haj Atta al-Mannan has strongly criticized the conduct of some international agencies working in the state. He said the American NGO Care, had caused problems amongst people in the refugee camps as a result of its ignorance of the local society’s customs and values.

According to the Khartoum based Alwan daily, Atta al-Mannan said that if these organizations do not take on board the foundations and principles governing the nature of their work they would be committing a great mistake under the cover of providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict in Darfur.

During a meeting with US Congresswoman, Boston, who visited the state to acquaint herself with the situation of refugees, Al-Mannan called on the international community to honour their pledges towards 390,000 refugees, 200,000 of whom had abandoned their areas due to food shortage.

The governor further described the recent UN Security Council Resolution 1593, as not taking into account the reality of social and political life in Darfur.

He said this has resulted in social and security complications which would obstruct efforts towards peacefully resolving the Darfur problem. He went on to say that the problem was a result of security and political tensions in neighbouring African countries and not ethnic reasons.

Boston who listened to a detailed report on the humanitarian, security and health situations at the refugee camps, had inspected the area of Saniya Dalayba south of Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur. She expressed happiness at what has been achieved so far.

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.