UK Min: W. Sudan humanitarian crisis “desperately derious”

LONDON, May 31, 2004 (AP) — The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is “desperately serious” and urgently requires aid, the U.K.’s International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said Monday.

A 15-month insurgency in the Darfur region of western Sudan , where fighting between the government and rebels has raised fears of ethnic cleansing of mainly African tribes by government-backed Arab militias, has made 1 million people homeless.

“We need to put all our effort internationally into making sure that aid supplies get to the people who need them, both along the border with Chad, where a lot of refugees have gone, but also to the very large number of people who have been internally displaced,” Benn told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

“One of the problems is we don’t currently have a full picture of exactly what is going on.”

The Sudanese government and rebel fighters are due to meet on June 22 in Nairobi to negotiate details of a comprehensive cease-fire that was agreed last week to end the 21-year civil war.

Benn said it was important to get monitors into Sudan to assess the situation.

“That is the best way that we can make sure the cease-fire holds, get the aid to the people in need and then, in time, try to find a resolution to this problem so that people can go back home,” he said.