Humanitarian UN agencies and NGOs arrive to South Darfur’s Muhageria
February 6, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — United Nations aid agencies and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) arrived today to Muhageriya town in South Darfur to relief the affected population there three days after the rebels’ withdrawal.
“Aid workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres, Solidarites, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today reached the town of Muhajariya, South Darfur, for the first time in three weeks,” announced Orla Clinton, RC/HC Spokesperson.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) following calls from the UN, the African Union and the US Administration decided on February 3, to pull out its troops from the flashpoint town more than two weeks after driven out the former rebel fighters of Minni Minawi.
The rapid assessment found people in urgent need of food, medicine, and water. “There are at least 5,000 people in the town and we are doing everything possible to re-start operations immediately,” said the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Darfur, Toby Lanzer.
Lanzer further said grateful for the access to Muhajariya, and “count on continued access and security so that aid can reach civilians in the days and weeks to come.”
The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Darfur said Thursday that at least 30,000 people have fled their homes recently in South Darfur while government forces attempted to re-take Muhageriya.
JEM rebels, who seized the South Darfur strategic town on January 15, announced they would withdraw outside the city in order to prevent harm to the civilian population.
On January 26 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had evacuated its medical team to Nyala the capital of South Darfur 80 km. The MSF base in Muhageriya was completely destroyed by fire. However a small team of Sudanese MSF staff remained there to provide basic life-saving services without the much needed surgical services.
Another French aid group Solidarites also had relocated its workers to Nyala.
(ST)