W.Sudanese live in fear despite ceasefire-UN

By Nima Elbagir

KHARTOUM, April 22 (Reuters) – Villagers driven from their homes in Sudan’s western Darfur region are too afraid of Arab militiamen to return despite the signing of a ceasefire, a United Nations spokesman said on Thursday.

“There’s a climate of fear. People have not yet had a chance to see if the ceasefire is working,” said Ben Parker, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan.

The government and two main rebel groups fighting in Sudan’s western Darfur region since last year agreed to a ceasefire which came into effect last week. Political talks are scheduled to start again on April 24.

Rebels say government and Arab militia have continued to attack them since the deal came into effect. The government denies launching attacks but has said the rebels have attacked their troops.

Parker, who returned from a one-week visit to Darfur on Wednesday, said it would take local people time to feel confidence in the ceasefire after their recent experiences.

“Some of the people have been displaced not once but twice or three times. They’ve had their families attacked on the road. They’ve had their women raped. The men have lost their brothers and their fathers and their uncles,” he said.

The militiamen, known as janjaweed, have been driving African farmers and their families out of their villages in Darfur in what international organisations have called ethnic cleansing and even attempted genocide.

Parker, who is based in Nairobi, said the region’s people risked being beaten, raped or killed while collecting firewood to sell in the market for food.

“So there’s a whole series of very very difficult and frankly numbing choices that people are having to make,” he said.

BURNINGS AND BEATINGS

The ceasefire between the rebel groups and the government was “working” but more was needed to persuade villagers it was safe enough to return to their homes, said Parker.

“I think there’s no doubt at all that the major humanitarian crisis here is the result of the activities of the outlaw armed groups and the janjaweed militia,” he said.

Parker said he had witnessed the janjaweed in action during his visit.

“We’ve seen burning, we’ve seen beating, we’ve heard reports of harassment… Clearly we have a long way to go before we can say that the militias genuinely have been neutralised,” he said.

Parker said confidence in the ceasefire was vital in getting displaced people back to their homes.

“These decisions are up to them. If they don’t feel it’s safe enough to go back we’ll do our very best to support them where they are,” Parker said.

“We saw people today actually making bricks from mud. They were building houses in the camps. I think that’s a sign that they’re not ready to go back to their villages anytime soon.”

However, the largely rural communities would remain reliant on the United Nations for months if they did not return to their farms before the upcoming rains to plant next season’s crops.

Malnutrition rates in the camps are on the rise amongst some of the most vulnerable as those who escaped the fighting run out of their own resources.

“There is a really high number of those who have not yet received any (humanitarian) services, a big push is needed now for funding to lead on those areas that you expect will be opened up during the ceasefire,” Parker said.