Rising violence in Darfur threatens harvest, aid – ICRC

Oct 27, 2005 (GENEVA) — Escalating violence throughout Sudan’s vast Darfur region poses a threat to next month’s critical harvest as well as to aid programmes, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday.

Scores of civilians and fighters have died in clashes, tribal violence linked to cattle looting and access to grazing pastures, as well as banditry over the past two months, the humanitarian agency said.

The ICRC voiced concern at the upsurge in violence in all three Darfur states, where it deploys 600 staff working on food distribution, farming assistance, water supply and medical services.

“The escalating violence is a threat to the much-anticipated November harvest and has further hampered the seasonal migration of livestock,” it said in a statement.

“This could have disastrous consequences for the recovery efforts of the last 18 months — including an extensive ICRC agricultural assistance programme — and intensify the cycle of dependency on humanitarian aid.”

Two main Darfur rebel groups took up arms against the Khartoum government in early 2003, accusing it of monopolising wealth and power. The conflict has forced some 2 million people from their homes to camps.

On Tuesday, refugees released the last of up to 34 aid workers they had taken hostage in Kalma camp outside Nyala in South Darfur, the region’s largest camp with 90,000 people.

Armed police had arrested a tribal leader on Sunday in Kalma, prompting the abduction. Authorities have said rebels have launched attacks from within the camp.

Over the past week, the ICRC has resumed most of its activities, after a temporary suspension in some zones for three weeks as risks were deemed too high, according to the statement.

But the el-Geneina-Habila-Mornei triangle in West Darfur and Jebel Mun to the north of Seleia remain no-go areas, it said.

The abduction and killing of ceasefire monitors from the African Union peace force earlier this month was “symptomatic of the growing risks faced by peacekeepers and aid workers alike”, the Geneva-based agency said.

An ICRC field team was recently attacked twice by bandits south of el-Geneina and robbed of cash and valuables, it added.

(Reuters)