UN boss says Sudan denying camp space to 36000 Darfur refugees
April 21, 2009 (NEW YORK) – Sudanese government authorities have denied repeated requests by the United Nations to allocate additional land for approximately 36,000 people in flight, said a report today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
Tens of thousands of new arrivals in the greater El Fasher area, particularly at Zam Zam camp, lack adequate space, shelter, and water supplies said the UN leader.
In his report covering violence against aid groups, ongoing fighting, attacks against peacekeepers, and a looming deterioration of the humanitarian situation, the UN Secretary-General detailed the plight of 36,000 newly displaced people who have joined the roughly 2.7 million already in camps across Darfur.
Since February 4 — the day after a rebel pullout from a major South Darfur town — large numbers of people have moved away from Muhajeriya and surrounding villages, as well as from rural areas between, said the report. The vast majority of those fleeing were of the Zaghawa ethnicity.
“These movements were accompanied by accounts of the burning of some houses, neighbourhoods, and villages. Furthermore, UNAMID observed that almost all of the migrating Zaghawa are moving directly towards Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (17 km south of El Fasher, Northern
Darfur),” stated the UN Secretary-General.
He noted that the water capacity in the camp is insufficient to provide for all of the new arrivals the minimum standard of water per person per day. Oxfam, the aid group that had operated the fresh water system of the camp, was expelled on March 4. Since then, the UN-African Union peacekeepers are providing water to the camp on a daily basis.
Recently the State Water Corporation erected 50 communal latrines in the area of Zam Zam designated for the new arrivals.
“The situation remains dire, with thousands of new arrivals residing in the camp without basic shelter,” wrote Ban. The start of the rainy season next month could exacerbate the situation, he added.
According to the UN humanitarian coordinating agency (OCHA), arrivals of the displaced population from Muhajariya, Shaeria, Abu Dangal and Labado continued during mid-April, especially to Zam Zam camp, though the rate of arrivals has considerably slowed down.
Some 7,000 children amongst the new arrivals in the camp received emergency dry rations from a combined operation by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and an international NGO that is also screening children for malnutrition.
Ban’s report covers the months of February and March 2009. The Secretary-General is required by UN Security Council resolution 1828 to make such a report every 60 days.
(ST)