Bombs and Rain will kill thousands in Sudan and South Sudan unless the international community intervenes

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) PRESS RELEASE April 16, 2012 A humanitarian catastrophe inflicted by Khartoum Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) returned yesterday from visiting people displaced from Blue Nile State, the Nuba Mountains and Abyei. Khartoum’s policies of ethnic cleansing are inflicting suffering and death: 1. Aerial bombardment, day and night, by Khartoum’s Antonovs, MiGs and helicopter gunships, and long range missiles, have killed and injured countless civilians, and displaced more than half a million from Abyei, Southern Kordofan (Nuba Mountains) and Blue Nile. Khartoum has also bombed targets across the international border in South Sudan (five bombs were dropped on Bentui, Unity State, the day after we left), terrorizing South Sudanese civilians and refugees. 2. Refugees from bombardment: 100,000 from Abyei; 140,000 from Blue Nile State; and 20,000 from Nuba Mountains are living in camps in South Sudan. Conditions in the camps are dire and will become catastrophic with the imminent rainy season, when road access will be impossible, the land becomes a quagmire, or as feared in Jamam Camp, underwater, and incidence of disease may multiply to epidemic proportions. 3. At least 300,000 civilians and Nuba Mountains, and 100,000 in Blue Nile, displaced by aerial bombardment and ground offensives, are hiding in caves or forests, with no effective shelter or access to essential supplies including food and water. Khartoum has continued to deny access to aid organisations, and once the rains begin, they will be unreachable. 4. ‘Returnees’: Al-Bashir’s policy of denying citizenship to those with family connections in South Sudan, and widely reported messages that “that the Government doesn’t want any black people in Khartoum”, and the threat of enforced expulsion, have caused tens of thousands of citizens living in the north to emigrate to South Sudan, often being denied the opportunity to bring belongings with them. Many have never lived in South Sudan and their integration will be logistically challenging, even apart from the humanitarian crisis confronting them. Many of those we met in the camps near Renk, especially those newly arrived, have only a flimsy makeshift shelter, which will provide no protection in the rainy season. The controversial attack by the SPLA on Heglig: HART is fully aware of the criticisms and response by the SPLM/A who claim that this was a defensive action to prevent Government of Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) from continuing its alleged advance from Heglig onto South Sudan’s territory, and using Heglig as a base for shelling targets inside South Sudan. A Presidential Statement specified: “The Republic of South Sudan is prepared to withdraw its forces from Heiglig if a clear mechanism and guarantee can be provided that Heglig will not be used to launch another attack against South Sudan.” We also note with concern that Government of Sudan forces still occupy Abyei, preventing the return of many displaced people to their homes in the town and surrounding villages. We would urge the international community not to allow the issues concerning military offensives by either side to distract from the immediate and urgent need to provide humanitarian assistance to those who will be affected by the imminent rainy season both in South Sudan and in Sudan. One refugee in Yida Camp, from the Nuba Mountains said “The children need a better life than this one. Are the white people on the same side as Khartoum? Why have they not done anything?” ENDS A full report of HART’s findings is attached. DRAFT REPORT | Bombs and Imminent Rain | HART visit to South Sudan’s devastated land and to destitute victims of Khartoum’s continuing aggression. April 2012

Attached documents