Australian aid worker warns of crisis in W. Sudan

By Renee Barnes

MELBOURNE, May 16, 2004 (AAP) — Time is running out for the almost one million Sudanese people who have been forced from their homes in the Western province of Africa’s largest nation, a senior Australian aid worker has warned.

Speaking from Nyala in the Sudanese province of Darfur, Red Cross health delegate Christine Foletti told AAP people were in desperate need of drinking water, food, shelter and health services.

She said things looked set to worsen with the onset of the rainy season making roads impassable and leaving many “vulnerable” people completely isolated.

“The situation is absolutely critical,” she said.

“The big problem is you’ve got a huge population influx, who are highly vulnerable and lack basic water and sanitation and access to basic health services.

“There’s also the risk of epidemics such as measles outbreaks, diarrhoea and things like that which are pushing an already vulnerable population to the brink.”

The crisis started in the region more than 15 months ago when Arab militias, backed by the Sudanese military, began killing, raping and looting areas occupied by non-Arab minorities.

The crisis followed a rebellion launched in the region in February 2003.

The United Nations has reported an increase in violence in the region over recent weeks, estimating that besides the one million people displaced within Darfur, another 120,000 had fled to neighbouring Chad.

Ms Foletti said over the past two weeks one refugee camp had grown from 7,000 to 24,000 people.

“In my ten years working in this field I would say this would have to be the worst humanitarian crisis that I have ever seen,” she said.

“I think the worst is yet to come and I think the big problem here is that a lot of the problems here are being overshadowed by the issues in Iraq.

“But the scale of what’s going on and the effect on the civilian population (in Darfur) is overwhelming and I think it will deteriorate very quickly in the coming months unless we are given a lot more support from the international community.”

The government in Sudan is dominated by Arabs but the country is also home to large non-Arab minorities including the Fur, Massalit and Zaghawa in Darfur.

In the past two months, the Red Cross has provided more than 42,000 internally displaced people in Sudan with assistance, in particular shelter, and ensured access to safe water for over 72,000 people.