Forcing Aid Groups Out of Darfur Puts Millions at Risk
 Printer-friendly
|
 Email article |
Related subjects: Africa, Darfur crisis, Diplomacy & Politics, Humanitarian Crisis, International Criminal Court, J.E. Robertson, United Nations, Water: a Global Crisis Comments Off
The government of Sudan, based in Khartoum, and under the rule of Pres. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has expelled more than a dozen international aid organizations from the country, charging that their activities in Darfur helped agents for the International Criminal Court (ICC) develop their war crimes case against Bashir. Bashir has been indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, and a fierce crack-down on dissent, press and international visitors, has been underway since.
One source, who wished to remain anonymous for reasons of personal safety, said there is increasing volume of calls and messages coming from aid workers in Darfur, saying they are afraid and the situation is deteriorating rapidly. While the government has pledged that local aid workers and UN agencies will fill the gap left by the departing NGOs, those expelled represent as much as half the aid, in the world’s largest humanitarian aid project.
The expulsion of organizations that provided clean water, medical treatment, food and shelter for millions of Sudanese in the war-racked region of Darfur has thrown the world’s largest aid operation into disarray, putting the lives of millions of displaced people at risk.
[ad#cafsen-intext]
Already there are reports of deaths linked to contaminated water and preventable diseases that are going untreated. With millions of Darfuris living in refugee camps, with little to no infrastructure, extremely poor sanitation and in need of food aid and medical aid to survive, the expulsion of these groups could turn what the UN already qualifies as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world into a mass catastrophe.
If the government of Sudan does not find a way to deliver, with immediate, aggressive efforts, substantial deliveries of food aid and medical supplies, personnel and services, as well as sanitation operations, to the camps, millions of lives will be put in jeopardy by the corresponding spread of contaminated water, disease outbreak and chronic hunger. The record of the Khartoum government has been to show little interest at all in providing aid to displaced Darfuris, since the apparent goal of their operations in Darfur appears to have been to displace or kill the civilian population.
The international community is now, of course, under increasing pressure to act to protect the people of Darfur. As those aid groups pull out, their efforts must be replaced by similar efforts on a similar scale. Some, like Doctors without Borders (MSF) are among the most daring, pro-active and effective, of non-governmental aid organizations, and replacing their volunteers will be difficult.
The ICC indictment has put the Darfur crisis on a permanent state of high alert, because under international law, Sudan itself is required to arrest Pres. Bashir and send him to the Hague for prosecution. Bashir has been marshaling all the powers at his disposal to protect his regime against collapse or against internal threats opened up by the ICC indictment. This new, more defensive stance means the people of Darfur are now, more than ever, hostages to the violence of his regime, unless the international community dramatically increases its protection and aid efforts.
| Printer-friendly
|
Email article |
CafeSentido Partner Sites: