Red Cross deplores worsening conditions for Darfur
Feb 21, 2007 (KHARTOUM/GENEVA) — Jakob Kellenberger, the President of the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), returns today from a five-day visit to the Sudan, which took place against a
background of increasing violence and deteriorating security in many parts of Darfur.
In the course of his journey, Kellenberger went to Gereida, Nyala and Al Fashir in South and
North Darfur and Juba in southern Sudan. The main objectives of this visit, his third to the Sudan
since 2004, were:
– To gain a first-hand, on-the-spot idea of the current humanitarian and security situation in
Darfur;
– To urge the representatives of the government, Mini Minawi’s faction of the SLA and armed
groups who have not signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) to comply with their
obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to spare them from
harm.
– To request safe access for the ICRC to those in need.
Over recent months, as fighting has escalated in many parts of Darfur, people have fled to more
remote areas, making it harder for aid workers to reach them. Those who have stayed in their
villages have been unable to tend their fields or go to local markets because of the violence and
insecurity. In addition, traditional coping mechanisms have broken down. Nomadic communities
have also been prevented from travelling centuries-old migration routes. This has meant that
animals have congregated in small areas, thereby placing an additional strain on water resources
and grazing land.
For the ICRC, which is largely focusing its assistance and protection activities on rural areas rather
than the camps, these are alarming signals, because unless these areas can be safely accessed,
agencies’ ability to respond will increasingly fall short of the needs of the people living there.
Whole communities are therefore being caught up in a spiral of destitution leading them to seek
refuge in the camps, which are already overflowing. The visit to Gereida was mainly prompted by
the fact that the ICRC, as the only remaining humanitarian actor with expatriate staff on the
ground, has had to take over assistance activities in this camp and supply the some 120,000
internally displaced people living in it with food, water and health care.
The ICRC currently has a staff of 160 expatriates and over 1,800 national staff based in all three
Darfur States, southern Sudan and Khartoum. The ICRC has been active in the Sudan since 1984,
owing to the civil war in the south and in Darfur since 2004.
(ICRC)