Recurrent violence remains the primary concern for Darfurians by ICRC / Oxfam / IPS / Reuters 6:00pm 10th Aug, 2007   09 Aug 2007    Recurrent violence remains the primary concern for Darfurians. (ICRC)    Upon completion of a 19-month mission, Yasmine Praz Dessimoz, head of operations at ICRC Darfur, talks about the current humanitarian situation in the troubled region and the obstacles and opportunities the ICRC is facing.    How would you describe the evolution of the conflict in Darfur since it started in 2003?    The current Darfur crisis erupted in 2003 between governmental and opposition forces and resulted in a disastrous humanitarian situation with the civilian population bearing the brunt of the conflict.    The situation in Darfur is complex and has too often been depicted in simple black and white terms. The dynamics of conflicts are rarely simple, but rather multifaceted. Since 2004, numerous peace processes and political initiatives have been ongoing without any solution thus far. During that time, the armed conflict on the ground has continued and the security situation has grown steadily worse. Fragmentation amongst armed groups has weakened their chain of command and tribal clashes over territories and resources are becoming more frequent. Moreover, lawlessness has spread to large areas of Darfur setting the stage for a breeding ground of opportunistic crime against the population and humanitarian organizations.    Today, the conflict in Darfur has moved from an acute crisis to a chronic one. Fighting now takes place in an increasingly fragmented and localized environment, creating in Darfur a patchwork of situations ranging from complete insecurity to fragile stability.    What is the current effect of the ongoing conflict on civilians in Darfur?    As ever, civilians are paying the highest price for the conflict. Insecurity and recurrent violence remain the main concern of the population in Darfur, even before access to food, water or health care. While its scope and consequences vary from one area to another, the violence is affecting all the tribes in Darfur regardless of their ethnic affiliation.    In areas where there is active fighting or persistent insecurity, some people are fleeing to even more remote areas, some are being hosted in nearby villages while still others have no choice but to head to already overstretched camps. The decent services on offer in the camps are also a pull factor. When not under direct attack, many people in rural areas are facing hardship as a result of blocked migration routes, lack of access to markets, lack of access to health services and insufficient water for people and animals where large quantities of livestock have congregated.    As long as insecurity prevails, it will hamper substantial returns and even provoke new displacements. It will continue to harm farming and cattle-trading alike and prevent a return to normal life. On the other hand, stability has prevailed in some other areas, where people can sustain a satisfactory living and some small-scale return of the displaced to their homes is taking place.    What are the main humanitarian challenges the ICRC currently faces in Darfur?    The prevailing insecurity in both rural and urban areas has restricted humanitarian organizations" access to those in need, particularly in rural areas. The fragmentation and proliferation of armed groups have rendered the task of obtaining security guarantees an enormous challenge. In addition, the situation is exacerbated by an increase in banditry that targets humanitarian organizations, including the hijacking of vehicles, theft of telecommunication equipment and sometimes attacks on staff.    The precarious security situation makes it extremely difficult to plan and carry out field activities, and this means that the communities most at risk in rural areas are often reachable only sporadically, if at all. The ICRC strives to overcome these difficulties and is still present and active in the three states of Darfur. To this end, it adjusts its operations to the unpredictable environment and maintains a flexible approach in coping with insecurity as it attempts to reach rural communities in need.    ICRC teams are constantly working with all parties to the conflict to obtain the security guarantees they require to carry out their activities. Over the past months, we were able to return to certain areas that had previously been off limits due to security concerns and we even managed to step up activities to assist people before the onset of the rainy season. This access should, however, not be taken for granted and we must continue to enhance our presence and acceptance by all actors in the field in order to access more and more people affected by the conflict.    How does international humanitarian law apply in the context of Darfur?    As long as the armed conflict continues in Darfur, the rules of international humanitarian law apply and must be respected by all.    The lack of respect for basic rules of international humanitarian law is an issue of deep concern. I am not talking here of complicated articles of law but basic humanitarian principles that are understood and respected by all cultures such as "civilians must not be targeted". International humanitarian law prohibits attacking, destroying, looting, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population such as water points, food stock and crops.    Brussels, July 11, 2007    New Warning of Famine in Darfur, by David Cronin. (IPS)    A famine is looming in Darfur, according to members of the European Parliament who have just returned from a visit to the war-ravaged Sudanese province.    The 785-strong Parliament will vote on a resolution urging that European Union governments impose targeted economic and diplomatic sanctions on Sudanese figures implicated in the ongoing violence in Darfur.    This follows a visit by five MEPs to Darfur from Jun. 30 to Jul. 6, where they witnessed first-hand the precarious conditions in which those uprooted by terror are living.    Frithjof Schmidt, a German Green MEP, said that the security situation is imperilling the distribution of food aid to the 2.5 million people who have been displaced since 2003.    Last month Oxfam announced that it was phasing out its activities in Gereida, the largest refugee camp in Darfur, where more than 130,000 people have sought refuge. Oxfam claimed that insufficient action was being taken by those controlling the surrounding area to address attacks against aid workers. Several other relief agencies have also decided that it is too dangerous for them to work in Darfur.    "If the security situation cannot be quickly stabilised, then the aid organisations will no longer be able to provide even basic food supplies," said Schmidt. "A famine of dramatic extent is looming."    Schmidt attributed the security problems to both the "enduring terror" inflicted by the Janjaweed militia, who are widely believed to be a proxy force for the Khartoum government, and to turf wars among guerrilla fighters opposed to the government.    "The growing fragmentation of the rebel groups into about 18 competing groups increasingly threatens the implementation of international aid efforts," he added. "Arrangements concerning humanitarian convoys are scarcely possible any more, and bandits are becoming an increasing menace."    He also warned that no improvement may come in the foreseeable future. A promised "hybrid force" composed of troops from the African Union and the United Nations may not be deployed in Darfur for another eight to 18 months, he said. In the interim, the mandate of the 5,000 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur should be transformed, said Schmidt, so that it is tasked with the active protection of the civilian population.    Josep Borrell, chairman of the Parliament"s development committee who led the MEPs" visit to Darfur, described the situation in the province as a "devil"s brew", which the African-led mission cannot contain. "All they can do is write reports," he said.    The Parliament"s resolution accuses Khartoum of "blatant violation" of the UN"s arms embargo on Sudan. It urges China, the largest buyer of oil from Sudan, to cease exporting weapons to the country and to lift its objection to UN sanctions against Khartoum.    The MEPs are demanding, too, that Sudan should hand over Ahmad Muhammad Arun, its humanitarian affairs minister, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed leader, to the International Criminal Court. In February, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo implicated the two men on 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Harun had personally led a campaign of incitement and recruitment that allowed atrocities in Darfur to continue, according to the prosecutor.    Lotte Leicht, director of the Brussels office of Human Rights Watch, criticised EU governments for failing to impose effective sanctions against Khartoum.    She argued that the Union should be identifying what assets the Khartoum authorities and those linked to them have in Europe so that they can be frozen. A precedent for carrying out an investigation had been set by the Union when it tracked the foreign interests of former Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic and his family, she noted.    "If the EU is not even doing its homework, then that only leads Khartoum to one conclusion: the EU is not serious so why should we change?" she told IPS.    Portugal, the new holder of the European Union"s rotating presidency, should "articulate loud and clear", she added, that "full cooperation with the ICC" is essential.    "Sudan must surrender the humanitarian minister and the other indictee, who is already in custody," she said. "We are not talking about people who are on the run."    The EU is the principal donor of humanitarian aid to civilians in Darfur, having pledged some 285 million euros (393 million dollars) this year.    But another MEP, French Liberal Thierry Cornillet, said there is scope for greater assistance. "The important thing is to save lives," he added. "We must increase the European Union"s humanitarian aid, while not forgetting that a political solution is needed to the conflict and to work towards that in parallel."    Sudan crisis, situation update, July 2007. Oxfam International    Darfur is the world’s largest international humanitarian response. Yet aid agencies’ vital work is being severely threatened by the ongoing violence against civilians and increasingly violent, targeted attacks on humanitarian workers, with all the many parties to the conflict bearing responsibility for this violence.    Oxfam recently warned that the entire response – upon which over 4 million Darfurians depend – is at risk of collapsing unless these attacks stop.    Incidents against aid workers and operations are now occurring on a daily basis. Humanitarian vehicles are regularly hijacked and stolen; staff are frequently assaulted, intimidated, abducted, robbed and shot at; and humanitarian compounds and offices are broken into by armed robbers. 13 aid workers, including an Oxfam staff member, have been killed in the last 12 months – more than in the rest of the conflict combined.    As a result, since the start of 2007 aid agencies’ ability to reach the people in need has hit its lowest point for three years. Attacks on humanitarians have never been higher or more violent than over the last few months.    It is more than four years since the start of the Darfur crisis. Today the situation is as desperate as ever. The sheer scale of suffering is incredible, and the numbers of people affected are higher than ever before:    Over 4.5 million people in Darfur and eastern Chad now rely on humanitarian aid. 2.5 million people - more than one in three Darfurians – have been forced from their homes by the violence    Over 2 million of them are now sheltering in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) inside Darfur    A further quarter of a million refugees from Darfur are in camps over the border in neighbouring Chad    So far in 2007 alone, a further 140,000 people have fled their homes across Darfur    Another 170,000 Chadian people have fled their homes as the conflict increasingly spills over into Chad. The number of Chadians displaced by violence has quadrupled in the past year.    The violence has seriously disrupted Oxfam’s programs. In April, we suspended work temporarily for two weeks in the town of Um Dukhun in West Darfur after an Oxfam vehicle was hijacked in broad daylight in one of the camps. The driver was injured in the incident and the car remains unaccounted for.    In June we announced the permanent withdrawal of programs in Gereida – Darfur’s largest camp where 130,000 people have taken refuge. Many activities in the town had been suspended for the previous six months since a particularly violent attack on the compounds of aid organizations including Oxfam. The local authorities’ failure to do anything to improve the safety of our staff left us with no option but to withdraw.    Despite the deterioration in security, Oxfam is still helping around 500,000 people affected by the crisis, and our staff remain fully committed to assisting the people of Darfur. But unless these attacks on humanitarians stop we cannot guarantee we can keep working there indefinitely.    While aid workers are being attacked, the people suffering most of all are the civilians of Darfur, who live in fear as the violence continues all around them. People are still fleeing their homes. Since the start of 2007 at least 140,000 more people have fled – some of them for the second or third time as the violence has followed them.    Many camps – particularly those near the major towns – are now at capacity and overstretched, yet people continue to arrive in search of help. The camps are also becoming more insecure. Armed men frequently enter camps to harass and attack civilians and aid workers.    The violence against humanitarians means that more than half a million people are currently going without the assistance they need – because aid agencies cannot access them. Large parts of rural Darfur are now completely inaccessible. With many roads unsafe to use due to the risk of hijacking, the majority of programs are now accessed by helicopter. However, helicopter services only go to the larger towns and camps – in villages and rural areas we are often simply unable to get there.    The massive humanitarian response has had considerable success in managing to stabilize living conditions in the camps, cutting rates of mortality and malnutrition. But as humanitarian access rapidly decreases there is a danger this could be reversed. There are increasing fears that we could see a return to the devastating levels of malnutrition and disease that were seen at the start of the crisis.    With ongoing attacks on civilians, increased targeting of aid workers, and decreasing humanitarian access, the people of Darfur do not have time to wait for change. Oxfam is calling on all the many parties to the conflict to agree, and adhere to, an immediate ceasefire. The international community should pressure the parties to respect international humanitarian law, stop targeting civilians and humanitarians, and create a safe environment for aid operations.    Ultimately the political process is the only long term, sustainable solution to the conflict. Greater effort must be made to invigorate fully inclusive political discussions and the international community must provide coordinated and sustained leadership. But a successful peace process takes time – in the meantime the people of Darfur need a ceasefire and greater immediate protection.    International discussion on Darfur is currently dominated by the proposed United Nations and African Union “hybrid” peacekeeping force.    But focus on this force risks deflecting from the most urgent need – a ceasefire. Even the most optimistic estimates say it will be at least early 2008 by the time the hybrid force is on the ground, and in reality it may be a lot longer. The people of Darfur should not have to wait that long.    In the meantime, the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has troops on the ground right now. But they lack funds, assistance and support from the rest of the world. Although supposedly in place to protect civilians, AMIS itself is increasingly under attack. 10 African peacekeepers have been shot dead since February, and others robbed, intimidated and abducted. The international community must do more to strengthen AMIS and give it the support it needs to succeed.    While the Darfur conflict has never been as straight forward as has often been portrayed, the situation has become increasingly complex over the last 12 months. Since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006, the security situation has deteriorated significantly and the rebel movements have splintered into countless factions. Allegiances and areas of control shift frequently. The region has become increasingly lawless, with perpetrators of violence rarely held to account. All of the many parties to the conflict currently bear responsibility for the ongoing crisis.    The suffering has increasingly spread throughout the vast region. Few areas of Darfur now are untouched by violence, and the crisis has crossed over the borders of Sudan and exacerbated tensions and conflicts in Chad and Central African Republic. Rebel groups, militias and bandits regularly cross the borders at will. Attacks on villages in Chad – similar to those in Darfur – have killed civilians and forced many to flee their homes. The number of displaced Chadians has quadrupled in the last year to 170,000 – in addition to the nearly quarter of a million Sudanese refugees sheltering inside Chad.    Most people arrive in the camps with virtually nothing. Some were able to bring animals and a few pots or blankets (if they were not killed or stolen in attacks), but many came with just the clothes they were wearing. Even for those lucky enough to bring animals such as donkeys and cows it is difficult to find food with which to feed them, and taking them out to graze puts the owners at serious risk of attack.    In many camps, the makeshift huts in which many of the families shelter are made of little more than sticks and plastic sheeting.    However, some camps, such as Abu Shouk on the outskirts of El Fasher, have taken on an air of permanence, with stone buildings replacing the tents. With the conflict showing no sign of ending, many people expect to be stuck in the camps for a long time to come.    The main feeling in many of the camps is one of helplessness and frustration – people are trapped here, unable to return home, with limited access to education or economic opportunities. Leaving the camp immediately exposes them to the risk of violence – even venturing out to collect essential firewood can risk harassment, sexual assault or death.    The majority of people in the camps are women and children, and many of the young children have now spent a large part of their lives living there. The impact of the crisis on a whole generation is likely to have enormous consequences for Darfur’s future.    June 28, 2007    Violence escalating in Darfur. (Reuters)    The United Nations says murder, rape and abductions are on the rise in West Darfur state, driving more people into camps in the lawless Sudanese region.    UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri has detailed reports of tribal killings, and militia and aerial attacks on villages. "Of particular concern is the recent upsurge in car-jacking, killings, abductions and rape in the area of Zalingei (West Darfur state)," she said.    Reports of aerial bombardment and militia activity in South Darfur have also caused thousands of people to flee their homes for the relative safety of camps.    The rise in violence comes two weeks after the Sudanese Government agreed to the deployment of a UN-AU joint force of thousands of troops to replace the African Union (AU) force that has proved ineffective.    The United States calls the rape, murder and looting in Darfur genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use and the Sudanese Government rejects.
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