Breaking - 10 Aid Agencies Expelled from Sudan

Let's just call this the Wednesday morning massacre.  Following this morning's decision by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Sudanese Government has begun expelling NGOs.

According to a UN source a total of ten agencies have been expelled.

At the moment, six large NGOs - CARE, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Medecins Sans Frontieres - Holland (MSF), Mercy Corps, Oxfam and Save the Children UK - have confirmed receiving letters from the Sudanese Government revoking their licenses to operate in Sudan.

The UN reports that Solidarities has also been expelled, though I haven't seen any statements from Solidarities itself.

Both the AP and Xinhua report that, in addition to the seven organizations mentioned above, three other aid agencies - Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Action Contre La Faim (ACF), and CHF - have also been ordered to leave.  (Again, though, I haven't seen statements from NRC, ACF or CHF.)

As the head of one aid group working in Sudan explained: "They told us to leave the country within 24 hours."

What does this mean on the ground?  By the numbers:

- CARE provides assistance to 1.5 million people in Sudan

- IRC provides assistance to 1.75 million people in Sudan (650,000 in Darfur and 1.1 million in North and East Sudan)

- MSF Holland reports that the explusion will leave 200,000 of their patients without essential medical care

- Oxfam provides assistance to 600,000 people (400,000 of whom are in Darfur)

- Save the Children UK supports 50,000 children in Khartoum and in the north east of Sudan

- Mercy Corps provides assistance to nearly 200,000 people in Darfur

- ACF provides assistance to 1.2 million people in Sudan

(I couldn't find program numbers for Solidarities, but a description of their program activities is here.  Similarly, a description of NRC's program is available here, and a description of CHF's program is available here.)

Simply adding all these numbers together is somewhat misleading, as people can receive different assistance from different organizations at the same time (i.e. one organization providing food, and another providing water and sanitation services, etc.)  Also, some of these assistance figures might include beneficiaries in South Sudan, who might not be affected.

At the very least, though, these expulsions affect millions of people across North Sudan and in Darfur.

In a rather impressive bit of understatement, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the expulsions a "serious setback to lifesaving operations in Darfur."

No shit.

What a fucking mess.

As I wrote a few months back:

"It's easy to argue for justice.  It's tempting to argue that anything that gives the international community leverage over the Sudanese Government - leverage which could be used to end the conflict - is worth the price.

But let's not mince words - we're gambling with hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives."

Let's just hope the arrest warrant was worth it.

[Many thanks to Eric Jon Magnuson for sending me many of these links.]

[Young women in Darfur - Photo from the Chicago Coalition to Save Darfur]