UN refugee agency appeals for $19.7m in Darfur aid
Jan 30, 2007 (GENEVA) — The U.N.’s High Commission for Refugees appealed Tuesday for US$19.7 million more to help millions displaced by the “continuing state of emergency” in Darfur as Sudanese, African and U.N. officials negotiate a peacekeeping deal for the troubled region.
The additional money would cover most of the UNHCR’s costs for 2007 in Darfur, said Annette Rehrl, UNHCR spokeswoman for Sudan.
“We are determined to stay in Darfur; we provide the basic protection and if we go, everything goes,” Rehrl said by telephone.
Despite a peace agreement signed last May between the Sudanese government and a single rebel group, fighting has only worsened in Darfur, a vast region of western Sudan where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million chased from their homes since 2003.
“With constant fighting between government troops and rebels opposed to the (peace agreement), as well as regular attacks by Arab militia on African tribes, there is no prospect of return” for the millions of people living in camps, the UNHCR said in its statement appealing for funds Tuesday.
“The appeal notes that the region is characterized by a continuing state of emergency,” UNCHR said.
Darfur is the world’s largest ongoing humanitarian effort, with some 15,000 aid workers, including 1,000 from abroad, according to the U.N.
The U.N. and others accuse Sudan’s government of arming and directing the janjaweed militias of Arab nomads as part of its counterinsurgency tactics. The UNCHR said in its appeal Tuesday that Arab militias burnt to the ground at least 25 Chadian villages in recent weeks, and observers in Darfur blame the janjaweed for widespread atrocities against tribes of ethnic African farmers.
The government denies controlling the janjaweed, and in turn accuses Chad of backing the hardline rebel groups that refused a peace agreement.
Khartoum also denies accusations its air force indiscriminately targets civilians villages.
“We bomb the people who are sabotaging the peace agreement, or rebel factions who attack the army and civilians,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq. The U.N. says a series of air raids earlier this month killed several villagers and breached cease-fire agreements.
Twelve humanitarian workers have been killed in the past six months and several aid groups have warned they are reaching the “breaking point” because of increasing violence. A major French aid group announced earlier this week it was pulling out of Darfur, while several others say they may do the same if warring factions continue denying them access to civilians and targeting humanitarian workers.
Violence is spreading throughout the region, and the UNCHR says it helps more than 200,000 Darfur refugees in neighboring Chad.
Meanwhile, the agency says it also provides relief to 20,000 Chadians who recently fled attacks by Arab militias and now live in Darfur.
(AP)