Darfur fighting uproots another 50,000 people: aid official

Mar 29, 2006 (GENEVA) — An upsurge of violence in Sudan’s conflict-ravaged region of Darfur has uprooted a further 50,000 people since the start of the year, a senior aid official said Wednesday.

Robbie Thomson, head of Darfur aid operations at the International Organisation for Migration, said the increase in the number of displaced people was the biggest in the region since fighting broke out there three years ago.

“The situation in Darfur is as bad now as at any time since 2003,” said Thomson, whose agency registers internal refugees.

The conflict in impoverished Darfur pits rebels against militias backed by Sudanese government troops, and has left some 300,000 people dead and displaced more than two million others since 2003.

Around 200,000 people have fled to neighbouring Chad.

Besides getting caught up in the conflict, civilians and relief workers in Darfur also suffer frequent attacks by bandits.

Aid agencies, which are already stretched as they try to operate across an arid region the size of France, have seen their logistical problems compounded by rising insecurity which has left many areas off-limits for their staff.

“Violence is the reason that international humanitarian community doesn’t have access,” Thomson told reporters.

“I see it continuing. I don’t see any cause for it to stop. There has been no solution for the problems,” he said.

(ST/AFP)