UN agencies report mixed progress in access to the needy in Darfur

NAIROBI, July 13, 2004 (IRIN) — UN agencies report progress on improving access
for humanitarian organisations to civilians in the violence-hit Darfur
region of western Sudan, but note that local authorities are still
demanding travel permits in some areas.

Concern also persisted over security in dozens of internally displaced
persons (IDP) camps in the region following reports that women were being
subjected to gang rapes, the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday.

UN News quoted UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe as telling reporters in New York
that the Sudanese government had lifted visa restrictions and made it
easier to transport humanitarian supplies and equipment, as promised under
a joint communiqué signed with the UN nine days ago. She noted, however,
that local authorities in Northern and Western Darfur were continuing to
require aid workers from the UN and NGOs to obtain travel permits for
their areas.

Okabe called on the Sudanese government to station more of police near IDP
camps to prevent women who venture out of the camps in search of firewood
from being raped.

Moreover, she said, despite Khartoum’s encouragement, the IDPs, who were
mainly indigenous Africans, remained reluctant to voluntarily return to
their home villages without guaranteed protection from attacks by the
largely Arab Janjawid militia.

UN agencies have estimated that more than a million people were internally
displaced in Darfur by deadly attacks by the Janjawid and fighting between
militias allied to the government, Sudanese government forces and two
rebel groups. Another 170,000 people have fled to neighbouring Chad.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who recently visited Darfur, said the
situation there “bordered on ethnic cleansing”. Senior UN officials have
described it as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.