It has been nine days since the Sudanese government began expelling humanitarian aid workers from Darfur; all told, 16 agencies have had their licenses revoked or have been dissolved entirely. Making matters worse, material and financial assets have been seized, making it impossible for the exiting agencies to hand their missions off to the remaining groups. The remaining organizations are now finding themselves overwhelmed; with over half of the humanitarian force leaving Darfur, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill the gaps in service. The UN and the WHO have been issuing reports on the immediate impact on Darfuri civilians, along with some predictions of future consequences—the outlook is not good. According to the World Health Organization, some of the more immediate effects have been:
- All humanitarian services in Kalma (90,000 IDPs), Bielel (26,000 IDPs), and Muhajuria (47,000 IDPs) have been disrupted. Kalma is currently suffering a meningitis outbreak that has claimed two lives this week—a vaccination program scheduled to begin soon has been disrupted.
- Services in Kass (100,000 IDPs), Otash (70,000 IDPs), and East Jebel Marra (67,000 IDPs) have been partially disrupted—including the loss of all four agencies responsible for providing clean water to Kass.
These disruptions are just the beginning of a much larger humanitarian catastrophe; according to OCHA, the expulsion of these aid agencies will, in the coming days and weeks, lead to
- 1.16 million people without water, sanitation, and hygiene.
- 1.1 million people without food.
- 1.5 million without access to health and nutrition services.
The residents of the IDP camps in Darfur are heavily dependent on international NGOs for the necessities of human life—from drinking water to prenatal care. The expulsion of the NGOs has disrupted services throughout Darfur and the consequences are just beginning to be realized.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
