IDP Camps Archive

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Turmoil in IDP Camps

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

During the final week of July, violence in the Kalma and Hamadiya internally displaced persons (IDP) camps developed after disagreements between displaced civilians who support the Doha peace process and those in opposition to the talks. The conflict became increasingly volatile after the Sudanese Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid faction (SLA-AW) began sporadically shooting in Kalma camp in order to intimidate those who supported the Doha talks. Over the following week the situation escalated after protests turned into rioting that resulted in the deaths of 13 IDPs and wounded another 45 in Kalma with at least 3 killed in Hamadiya camp near Zalingei. Many leaders fled to UNAMID-controlled headquarters to seek safe haven. While violence has begun to subside, the situation remains critical as a result of weeks of limited humanitarian access and resource shortages.

IDPs in Kalma Camp

Before the violence in late July and early August, the Kalma camp was the second largest IDP in the world with an estimated 100,000 displaced Darfuris residing within it; however, according to the Human Rights and Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND) up to 60% of civilians who lived in Kalma are reported to have fled to Nyala and the neighboring camps of Baba and Bilail after conditions worsened as a result of violence and resources limitations. Beginning on August 2nd the Government of Sudan blocked humanitarian organizations from providing aid to IDPs in Kalma. In a statement released on August 16th, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed his concern about the turmoil and limitation of humanitarian access in Kalma. This obstruction continued until August 17th, when humanitarians were briefly given access to Kalma. Until this brief resupply, the camp was without fuel necessary to operate water pumps. The following day, aid groups were once again prevented from entering the camp by the Sudanese Government.

Today it appears that the government has once again opened up humanitarian access to Kalma; hopefully this time the access will be permanent. Despite the re-opening of access, two weeks without humanitarian aid led to a rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation inside Kalma. Resource shortages have increased drastically since June as access to fuel, food, water, and medical supplies were severely restricted.

In another blow to IDPs and civilians throughout Darfur, the Government of Sudan expelled five humanitarian officials from the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday. This follows the recent expulsions of two officials from the International Organization for Migration in July. Such expulsions, threats of further expulsions, and the obstruction of humanitarian access in many areas of Darfur cannot be allowed to persist. If the Government of Sudan truly wants to prove its dedication to peacefully resolving the crisis in Darfur, it must immediately cease all restrictions and allow full humanitarian access not only to Kalma camp, but throughout Darfur.

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Three months since Darfur

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Darfuri Children in Abu Shouk IDP Camp

Darfuri Children in Abu Shouk IDP Camp

Just three short months ago, I visited six Darfuri camps, the only homes many children in Darfur have ever known.

As I spoke with those children’s parents about the grinding day-to-day life in Darfur, I was inspired by their hope for the future and the smiles of their children. Every day, I wake up and remember those children and know that we must continue our work to help ensure their future. From that trip I was reassured that what we do to help bring peace, protection and justice to their lives matters.

In the last few months, we’ve had some success, but conditions in Sudan are slipping backward.

Most recently, we asked Vice President Biden to make Sudan a priority on his recent trip to Africa – and he did, holding high level talks with leaders in Egypt, Kenya and South Africa.

Following our intense election campaign – we delivered over 72,000 activists signatures on a petition to President Obama to make sure the US did not legitimize Sudan’s nationwide election – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley declared that “this was not a free and fair election.”

But despite its fraudulent basis, the election has emboldened Sudan’s dictator Omar al-Bashir, and his regime has begun a new crackdown to silence human rights activists and civil society leaders by increasing arbitrary arrests, beatings, torture, restricting speech and increasing censorship, and seizing passports to keep activists from attending international events.

Furthermore, the peace negotiations between key Darfur rebel groups and the government have broken down, and armed conflict has begun anew. Sadly, the month of May became the deadliest month in Darfur since the arrival of UN peacekeepers – nearly 600 lives were lost.

Now, Sudan is just seven months away from holding a referendum to determine whether South Sudan will become an independent nation – and most agree that the south will vote to break away. Fears are rising that if key agreements between the North and South on sharing oil revenue, border demarcation, and citizenship are not completed before the referendum, a return to deadly civil war could result.

In the coming months we will monitor the rapidly changing situation on the ground in Sudan. We will continue to pressure President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton and others to lead the world in efforts to stop the violence in Darfur and bring all parties to the peace table, or call out Bashir and rebel leaders if they do not. We will also urge the United States to lead the international community in preparing for the upcoming referendum on Southern Sudanese independence.

We will call on Ambassador Susan Rice to lead the charge to renew Darfur’s peacekeeping force, support all efforts to bring Bashir and other perpetrators of the genocide to justice, and make sure that Sudanese civil society voices are being heard around the world.

Thinking back to my visit to Darfur, I recall one camp leader who asked us to “keep on working to raise your voice for all IDPs.”

I, for one, am motivated now more than ever to keep raising my voice on behalf of the millions in Darfur who want justice, peace, and security.

Please know that your efforts are making an impact for the children of Sudan, and are joined with the Sudanese who hope and struggle every day for peace and justice in Sudan.

Thank you again for your continued support.

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Update on Violence in Jebel Marra

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Rebels from SLA-AW stand guard in Nertiti, Jebel Marra (Photo: Reuters, 2008)

Darfur’s troubled region of Jebel Marra remains under the radar of international concern, despite ongoing hostilities taking a serious toll on the local population. Significant numbers of civilians continue to flee their homes into IDP and refugee camps as the situation deteriorates, with neither humanitarian relief nor peacekeeping protection available.

Jebel Marra is a mountainous area in central Darfur (see map below), and is allegedly the rebel faction SLA-AW’s last stronghold. With talk of a (now faltering) peace agreement in Doha involving Darfur’s most viable rebel group (the JEM) and another with the new rebel alliance (the LJM), and amid reports of divisions among the SLA-AW, Khartoum seems determined to gain control of Jebel Marra once and for all. While there’s no independent way to confirm the extent of civilian deaths (estimates are well into the hundreds) and human rights abuses committed during the fighting, it is clear that all parties to this latest outbreak of violence have been responsible for obstructionist measures that have prevented the local population from receiving the assistance it desperately needs.

Jebel Marra

Darfur's Jebel Marra region, southwest of UNAMID Force Headquarters in El Fasher. Image based on a UN Planning Map. The boundaries and names shown are for reference only and do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by any party.

The most significant attacks have occurred in Kidingeer, Leiba and Fugoli, Feina and Deribat, which has severely affected the 300,000 people living in Jebel Marra, many of whom are currently displaced and are deprived of access to international humanitarian aid since the NGOs and UN have forced out of the region. In a recent article, Julie Flint stated that the amount of civilians killed in Jebel Marra is the highest since UNAMID began its deployment with over 35,000 regular troops and 12,000 militiamen in Jebel Marra. An assessment completed by the UN and several NGOs in mid-February estimated that around 2,000 families had recently arrived in Nertiti (site of a Rwandan UNAMID company) with over 5,000 new arrivals in Thur and Guldo after the fighting in Eastern Jebel Marra forced civilians to flee their homes. Since the violence in Jebel Marra continued to escalate after the assessment, the amount of displaced is bound to have increased significantly.

With resounding claims that the war in Darfur is over, the crisis in Jebel Marra cannot be ignored. The current loss of lives and livelihoods demand both international outrage and attention. So “where are the cries of “Never again” now that they are needed?” Help the Save Darfur Coalition and others raise the alarm about the devastation in Jebel Marra.

It is our mandate both to act and to demand action – and the time to do so is now.

Contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 202-647-4000 today and ask her to condemn this violence and work with the international community to mobilize support for Darfuri civilians.

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Untouchable Crisis? A Call to Action

Monday, March 15th, 2010
Jebel Marra

SLA Fighters in Jebel Marra, 2007 (Photo: Reuters)

The situation in Jebel Marra remains unstable and essentially unknown as thousands of civilians to pour into IDP camps and flee to neighboring countries, while outside organizations continue to be denied entry into Deribat and its surrounding areas.

The critical lack of independent monitoring and investigations in Jebel Marra combined with obstructionism by belligerent parties makes credible information on the crisis disturbingly non-existent. On March 8th, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) made a statement that they were in control of the region while SLA-AW denied the claim, both of which are impossible to verify.

UNAMID launched a patrol to assess the situation on March 5th which was ambushed and seized by apparently unidentified gunmen. The 60 peacekeepers were later released but their weapons and vehicles are now in the in the possession of the attackers. According to Radio Dabanga a government delegation from South Darfur was also ambushed on March 12th leaving SLA-AW and SAF contradictory claims the only information on the situation in Jebel Marra.

In a recent post on the SSRC blog “Making Sense of Sudan,” Julie Flint reflects on the poignant absence of international outrage. “Where are the Save Darfur activists?” she asks, adding in an article for the Daily Star that “2002 is being rerun in 2010 – despite Save Darfur, despite UNAMID, and despite the ICC.”

As Save Darfur – a unique community of activists and rights organizations – we have been called to action. The international community and the Save Darfur movement worked hard to see the deployment of UNAMID. Now – amid the worst fighting in the 27 months since its deployment and as crucial national elections approach – this voice is as essential as it ever was. Likewise, activists and NGOs from around the world fought tirelessly to ensure UNAMID was provided with essential equipment like tactical helicopters capable of rapid intervention. Now that these gunships have arrived, it is our responsibility to ensure they are used to enhance UNAMID’s peacekeeping presence and enforce its mandate to protect civilians.

The global community needs to express its concern, mobilize support for Darfuri civilians caught in these clashes, and remind international policymakers why they should care about what’s going on in Jebel Marra. It is our mandate both to act and to demand action – and the time to do so is now.

Contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 202-647-4000 today and ask her to condemn this violence and work with the international community to mobilize support for Darfuri civilians.

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Sudan Trip Debrief Webcast

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

In this special webcast, Save Darfur Coalition President Jerry Fowler and Senior Director of Campaign Advocacy Mark Lotwis discuss what they saw on their recent trip to Sudan and give their thoughts on the challenges facing the country as it prepares for the first multi-party elections in more than two decades.

The webcast was recorded at 2:00 PM on Thrusday, March 4th:

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A Hollow Framework

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

The big news as I arrived in Khartoum from Darfur earlier this week was of a “framework agreement” and ceasefire between the Sudanese government and one rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The agreement was formally signed on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.  Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir was there, as was JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, Chadian President Idriss Deby and a host of envoys, including U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration.  The agreement creates a “framework” for negotiations – basically a list of items to be discussed and agreed upon.

Notably, and worryingly, justice and accountability – which so many IDPs told us was important to them – are not on the list.  It also establishes a temporary ceasefire, although as with the whole framework, the details are still to be worked out.  A final agreement is supposed to be completed by March 15, a hugely ambitious – if not unrealistic – target.

Almost exactly a year ago, Khartoum and JEM signed another “framework agreement” and ceasefire in Doha.   It went nowhere, as have a sheaf of other agreements in recent years.  So there is ample reason to be skeptical.  Still, this year’s framework may be more robust.  It seems to have high level buy-in from Bashir and JEM leader Ibrahim.  And both sides have near term incentives to follow through.  Bashir  is running on a peace platform (“Symbol of Unity and Peace” says one of his omnipresent campaign posters) in the April elections.  JEM is pressed as a result of the recent peace agreement between Khartoum and Chad.  In fact, the Sudan-Chad rapprochement caused JEM to move more of its forces into northwestern Darfur, leading to a new round of fighting that promised to be devastating for the civilian population in that area.

To that extent, the ceasefire – if it holds – is definitely a good thing.  But although a step forward, a lasting ceasefire – even a final agreement – between JEM and the government is far from a final resolution of the Darfur crisis.  JEM is militarily the strongest rebel group, but it has a narrow constituency within Darfur.  Giving its officials a handful of government posts would scarcely begin to address the underlying problem of marginalization and exclusion.

Bashir traveled to Darfur after the framework agreement was signed and declared, “The crisis in Darfur is finished; the war in Darfur is over. Darfur is now at peace.” What we saw and heard in Darfur tells us this is plainly not true. The problem of insecurity is cited widely by internally displaced persons, UN officials, civil society leaders and others as one of the principal impediments to peace.  This day to day insecurity is felt all over Darfur, impedes a durable end to displacement and restricts the presence of NGOs and UN agencies in the “deep field.”

(more…)

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On The Ground Update From Sudan

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

As I write this I am in Khartoum, Sudan, having just returned from a week of traveling through Darfur. Although I’ve traveled to eastern Chad to meet with Darfuri refugees who fled the country, this is the first time I’ve actually been to Sudan and Darfur. I applied for a visa in 2004, but only recently did the Sudanese government give me permission to come. I came with my colleagues Mark Lotwis and Sean Brooks.

Visiting Otash camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

The chance to meet with displaced Darfuris inside Darfur, and in general to see firsthand this country that I have read and thought so much about, has been profoundly moving. One of the most striking things in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), as in refugee camps in Chad, is the children – living in the present, as children everywhere are so good at doing, but not totally unaffected by the turmoil that has swirled around them. As we were leaving one camp, a little girl who couldn’t have been more than three and a half feet tall flashed the omnipresent thumbs up sign and chanted, “Bashir is a criminal, the khawaja (foreigner) tells the truth.”

We will be providing more in depth reporting on our trip, which is continuing as we leave to spend several days in southern Sudan. But I wanted to give you a very quick update based on our time so far in Khartoum and Darfur.

Two big points have been reinforced from our time here. First, the issues of Darfur cannot be resolved in isolation from the larger issues of Sudan, and vice-versa. And the most significant issues of Sudan involve marginalization and exclusion. A great danger is that Darfur, seen as an isolated issue, gets ignored in coming months as attention focuses on the referendum on the independence of southern Sudan scheduled for next January. We must view Sudan holistically.

Second, there is an important role for the international community to play in helping to create a space for Sudanese to resolve the issues of Sudan without the use of extreme violence against civilians. It was such violence, used particularly by the government and its allies, that riveted the world’s attention on Sudan. Extreme violence is not happening now, but the potential remains.

Camp leaders meeting in Otash

In that regard, in Darfur we found an uneasy situation – “neither peace, nor war,” we heard a number of times. From IDPs we consistently heard expressions of fear and a pervading sense of insecurity. Clashes between the government and rebels are happening in some areas, but such organized fighting is not widespread. Nor is there systematic violence against civilians. But neither is there a sense of stability, security or peace. Quite simply, nothing is resolved. And a large portion of the civilian population remains extremely vulnerable.

We heard over and over from the IDPs and other Darfuris that they long for peace and security. One of the most poignant comments we heard was from a leader in one of the camps we visited. “Once milk is spilled on the ground,” he said, “it is impossible to get it back in the pail.” This proverb recognizes how challenging it is to create a durable peace and that it is not merely a matter of restoring things as they were. Creating that peace will require a sustained effort by the Sudanese themselves and sustained engagement by the international community.

Stay tuned as over the coming days, we will be reporting more on our assessment of the current situation on the ground.

Thank you for all you do for the people of Darfur and Sudan.

Jerry and the rest of the Save Darfur team in Sudan will be hosting a special live webcast on Thursday, March 4th, at 2:00 PM to discuss what they saw on their trip.

Please, sign up to watch the webcast and submit a question you’d like our team to answer on the 4th here: http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/asksavedarfur

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The Untreatable Wounds

Friday, November 13th, 2009

In recent years Americans have heard a great deal about the “invisible wounds” some people carry with them after a traumatic experience. Whether it’s a story about a returning veteran of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, or that of a Katrina survivor, public awareness of invisible wounds has increased considerably over the past few years.

As someone who has dealt with the invisible wounds of war, both personally and with comrades, I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulties faced by untreated victims of the genocide in Darfur and Sudan.

In today’s Washington Post, Michael Gerson pens an article that tells some of these very troubling tales:

On May 15, a woman near the Al Hamadiya camp in Zalingei was collecting firewood. Three armed men in khaki uniforms raped her, stabbed her in the leg, inflicted genital injuries and left her bleeding. She spent 45 days in the hospital. In 2003, the same woman was raped and shot while fleeing her village.

Her story is in a recent, exhaustive, chilling report on Sudan written by a panel of experts at the United Nations. A U.N. official told me, “We have not talked to a single woman [in Darfur] who has not stated that sexual violence is their first concern.” The panel documented sexual assaults against pregnant women and 12-year-old girls. Prosecutions are nonexistent. Local officials are indifferent.

The crisis in Darfur is anything but over. If anything, aid from the world is needed now more than ever.

We must not allow war criminal Omar al-Bashir and his deadly regime to outlast our resolve. We must not allow our care to fade; our spirit to be broken; or our commitment to be anything but stalwart. We must, in chorus-as fellow humans, demand from our leaders a new day in Sudan.

We have to demand that our leaders deal with the invisible wounds.

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Investigative Blogging on Existence of a Darfuri IDP Spokesperson

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Amanda Taub at Wronging Rights has published a three-part series of investigative blogging examining the use of quotes attributed to a Darfuri spokesperson in the Internally Displaced Camps, known as Abu Sharati.   She explores whether Abu Sharati speaks for all displaced Darfuris, as stated in a number of articles, or espouses the views of only one particular Darfuri rebel faction.  After talking with journalists from The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Reuters who quoted Abu Sharati in their stories on Darfur, she writes:

After weeks of research, I have been unable to find any information that makes me think Abu Sharati, supposedly the “representative” of Darfuri refugees and IDPs, exists -except to the extent that someone, who possesses neither that name nor that position, has been making statements to the press. And that whoever that person is, he is apparently awfully fond of the rebel leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.

I cannot think of any way to interpret the information I have been given that would allow me to conclude that no journalist has either (a) lied to me, (b) failed to follow the professional ethics that a journalist should, or (c) been duped by a fake “refugee representative” when any minor amount of digging or critical thought would have alerted them that there was more to the story. Frankly, the Occam’s Razor explanation here really seems like it’s (d): all of the above.

The trail that leads her to this conclusion is definitely worth a read, as are her conclusions for why this misreporting matters.  She believes first that “Abu Sharati’s” claiming to represent all Darfuris deprives other IDPs of their ability to tell their own stories and, furthermore, that “presenting a political argument in the guise of a humanitarian sentiment is disingenuous at best, and dangerous at worst.”  With 2.7 million Dafuris scattered over numerous camps in Darfur, it seems highly unlikely that they are organized and represented by one voice with one message.

(more…)

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UNHCR Annual Report: The Current State of the World’s Refugees

Monday, June 29th, 2009

On June 16, 2009 I attended the 2009 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2009 annual report. The UNHCR Annual report is a yearly update of refugee statistics and global trends. The forum, which was led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, reported that there are 42 million persons displaced worldwide. According to the UNHCR a “person of concern,” or someone who falls into the refugee category are asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, returned refugees, returned IDP’s and stateless persons.

Sudanese Refugees

Sudanese Refugees

(photo courtesy of Radu Sigheti)

There are a reported 2 million internally displaced persons in Darfur, Sudan and thousands of people have found refuge in Chad and other neighboring African nations. During the forum the high commissioner also mentioned several other noticeable trends in refugee displacement including the significant decrease in refugees since 2007, however as conflicts develop and become more intense those numbers can rise.

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