UNHCR Chief to tour camps for displaced sudanese
Aug 24, 2005 (Khartoum) — The head of the U.N. refugee agency set off Wednesday on a 10-day tour of camps that are home to some of the millions of Sudanese displaced by fighting in the southern and western Darfur region.
U.N. High Commission for Refugees chief Antonio Guterres is expected to talk with residents of an internally displaced camp outside Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, and assess his organization’s work there.
“This is the biggest displacement problem in Africa,” Guterres said of Sudan.
Sudan’s 21-year civil war in the South – which ended with a January peace deal – displaced more than 4 million people. Some refugees have started to return south from neighboring countries or areas within Sudan, Africa’s largest country.
Two years of violence in Darfur, western Sudan, has caused another wave of refugees. As of July 1, 3.2 million people in Darfur needed humanitarian assistance and 1.9 million lived in crowded camps in Sudan, according to a U.N. report released last week. At least 200,000 Sudanese live in refugee camps in neighboring Chad.
Guterres said he wanted refugees to return to their homes but acknowledged that the security situation wouldn’t yet allow this in Darfur.
“Return is the key of our policy,” he said. “We don’t want to keep people in camps. But return requires security, and there is no security without peace.”
While the intensity of the violence has decreased, looting and banditry have intensified, and violence against women is a continuing concern.
The fighting in Darfur began when rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003, complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan’s Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of unleashing Arab tribal militia known as the Janjaweed against civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson. At least 180,000 people have died – many from hunger and disease.
UNHCR efforts in West Darfur are concentrated on protecting refugees and monitoring their movements. Guterres planned to visit camps there plus a women’s center established by his agency to help respond to sexual violence and let women minimize the risks they face and find peer support.
He will also travel to camps in Chad before going to southern Sudan to assess preparations for the return of refugees, including rehabilitation of schools and hospitals and de-mining of roads. He will also visit a refugee camp in Kenya and meet senior government officials there.
Guterres said his talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and other officials on Tuesday proved that the government “understands the importance of return.”
“This is the moment to put pressure,” he said, calling on the international community to urge Sudan to reach peace in the West and contribute funds for development and restoration of living conditions to facilitate the return of refugees.
“In these next 12 months what we’d like to see is the steady start of the return to the South, a peace agreement to be achieved in Darfur and the East, progressive improvement of security in Darfur and the start of the sustained return of refugees there,” Guterres said.
Al-Bashir told Guterres he would cooperate with the U.N. refugee agency on the voluntary return of Sudanese living in neighboring countries, according to the official Sudan News Agency.
AP/ST