The situation in Darfur has rapidly deteriorated over the past few months with escalating violence impeding humanitarian relief efforts. Encouraged by his recent so-called “win” in Sudan’s April elections Omar al-Bashir has cracked down on political life throughout the country and escalated the war effort in Darfur. The conflict in Darfur began to intensify early on this year with a surge of violence between the Sudanese Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) faction and the government Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) resulting in massive civilian displacement. In his June 11th briefing to the UN Security Council, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated that “immediately after the signing of a peace agreement and public commitments to peace, 100,000 civilians were forcibly displaced by Sudanese armed forces in the Jebel Marra.” Jebel Marra has remained a breeding ground of violence as clashes between rebel groups and the government have caused the surrounding IDP camps with limited access to humanitarian aid to be inundated by displaced civilians.
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Soldiers
While the prospect of peace between the Government of Sudan and the primary rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) seemed likely in February and March, hostilities between the two returned in early May, weakening an already unstable situation. Since the April elections, 5 UNAMID peacekeepers have been killed; 14 humanitarian aid workers, doctors, and UNAMID peacekeepers have been abducted; several IDP camp leaders have been arrested; banditry has become increasingly rampant; and over 600 people were killed in May alone. Clashes between the Rizeigat and Misseriya tribes have killed over 200 people and displaced several hundred more according to UNAMID since fighting began in March. However, recently on June 29th the two tribes signed a reconciliation agreement and hopefully this time the peace will be sustainable. Other tribes, such as the Nuwayba, Abbabla, Baggara, Taalba, Mahadi, and Saa’da, have also been involved in inter-ethnic fighting which along with clashes between rebel groups and the government have caused massive civilian displacement and forced Darfuris to flee to already overcrowded camps that are running low on resources.
The growing insecurity has limited the amount of aid flowing into Darfur. Georg Charpentier, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, stated that “the steady deterioration of security conditions, particularly in the past two months, is not only affecting the population but directly targets the humanitarian community.” Water, fuel, and food shortages have been reported in camps such as Kassab, Mershing, Abu Shouk, Shamal, and Diraige and have increased as a result of the rise in violence. Reuters quoted the World Food Programme stating that “more than 400,000 Darfuris might miss out on food aid in June because aid convoys were struggling to get to them.”
Abu Shouk IDP Camp
Humanitarian groups have had to limit their aid due to the lack of access to the region as well as security issues such as a rise of banditry as well as kidnappings of aid workers. Three humanitarian workers from Samaritan’s Purse were abducted in May; while two have been released, an American woman is still being held. More recently, two aid workers for Technisches Hilfswerk, a German disaster relief agency, were kidnapped last week in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. Rebel groups, government forces, and militias have set up roadblocks, each demanding fees and hampering the humanitarian aid effort. Ground transportation has not been the only means of access affected: on May 31st, the Government of Sudan imposed a flight ban on helicopters claiming it was due to insecurity in the region. The ban lasted for two weeks and hindered UNAMID’s operation capacity.
While the former Joint Special Representative of UNAMID, Rodolphe Adada, last April called Darfur a “low intensity conflict”, recent events have proved that the current crisis in the region is anything but. Darfur may not be in the current headlines, but the situation remains dire as civilians continue to be at enormously high risk due to the intensification of renewed fighting and the lack of access to humanitarian resources that so many Darfuris heavily rely upon. With the upcoming referendum in South Sudan drawing near, the crisis in Darfur must not be overlooked and the international community must put pressure on all parties to allow aid into the region and cease hostilities.
Read more about the escalating post-election violence in Sudan.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: Darfur, Humanitarian Aid, IDPs, JEM, Omar al-Bashir
