Humanitarian situation in Sudan’s Darfur getting worse: UN

NAIROBI, June 7 (AFP) — “The worst is still to come” for the people of Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, where millions have been displaced by 15 months of rebellion, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned today.

“The situation in Darfur is becoming more critical every day; the worst is still to come,” WFP Country Director for Sudan, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, said in a statement sent to AFP in Nairobi.

“We cannot afford to stand by and watch as hundreds of thousands of people stare death in the face. We have already given a warning that this crisis is becoming a catastrophe. Unless the international community responds swiftly and generously, the response to the Darfur crisis will not be enough to prevent a major humanitarian disaster,” Lopes da Silva said.

“The food situation in Darfur will remain highly precarious for at least the next 18 months. Food prices in local markets are already rocketing just as people’s ability to buy is rapidly diminishing,” it added.

The WFP estimates that 2 mln people have been affected by the crisis in Darfur, including the 1.2 mln Sudanese who have fled from their homes in the region.

At least 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Darfur since early 2003, following attacks by Sudanese troops and militias against black African civilians.

In neighbouring Chad, along a 600-km border, where more than 100,000 people have fled, “there is a pressing need to settle the influx of traumatised people — most of whom are women and children — in camps, however, water sources are scarce and infrastructure is poor,” the statement said.

Despite an April 8 ceasefire between Khartoum and local rebel groups, as well as agreement from the government to allow aid in after months of blocking assistance, “people are still fleeing across the Sudanese border into Chad,” the text added.

Last month, a UN human rights report accused the Khartoum government of committing massive human rights violations in the western region that may amount to crimes against humanity.