US continues to press Sudan on delivery of humanitarian aid
April 5, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The United States is continuing to press the Sudanese government to allow aid into two areas that are the scenes of battles between Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) since last year.
Despite thousands being displaced from the fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, Khartoum has refused to allow aid groups in fearing that it will be a cover-up to help the rebels.
The United Nations, Arab League and African Union (AU) have put forward an initiative for aid delivery in these two border states. Sudan has yet to agree to it. The US suggested earlier this year that it could move unilaterally to deliver aid if Sudan insists on stonewalling.
The UN estimates say more than 417,000 people have fled their homes since the conflict broke out in June 2011.
Last February, the UN Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement expressing concern over the situation in the two areas, saying it could reach “emergency levels if not immediately addressed”.
“That is still under discussion with the government in Khartoum. They haven’t yet okayed it. And we’ve pressed very, very hard for that. There are ways to get food in other ways, but they are not sufficient to the scope of the problem” the US special envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman said at a phone conference with reporters this week.
“The UN envoy, Haile Menkerios, is in Khartoum right now pursuing negotiations with the government to get that humanitarian access approved. We think it’s vital, and we think it’s a very high priority,” he added.
Another US official underscored the dire food situation in the two states.
“There is definitely rising food insecurity – a very serious level of food insecurity. Our FEWS NET analysts have now estimated that in Blue Nile, the area – the source of the refugees that Catherine’s been talking about, we will be reaching emergency level conditions by August. In Southern Kordofan, it’s actually worse. We are estimating that between 200- and 250,000 people are right now reaching emergency food security – insecurity conditions” said USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Christa Capozzola.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Catherine Wiesner said that the influx of refugees from the two states is putting a strain on the South Sudan which recently became independent in July 2011.
“The influx of these refugees from Sudan is occurring against a backdrop of very complex humanitarian needs in South Sudan that I think most of you are aware of, but includes hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese who are returning from the north and other neighboring countries as well as significant numbers of people who are internally displaced within the country”, said Wiesner.
“Humanitarian conditions are understood to be deteriorating in both conflict zones and so additional arrivals are expected in the coming months,” she added.
“With these numbers, obviously the (humanitarian) agencies remain in a race against time,” the US official added.
Khartoum accuses Juba of backing the SPLM-N rebels and says the US must pressure South Sudan to cease this if it wants an end to the conflict in these states.
But the US special envoy stressed that Khartoum must address the root causes of the rebellion first.
“[I]t would also be a mistake to think that the troubles in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile are only because of possible support from the South. There are internal issues there, political issues, security issues leftover from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that haven’t been addressed. And the Government of Sudan must address those issues with the people of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile to really end the conflict there” Lyman said.
(ST)