Darfur Update - Things Still Bad
The UN explains the impact on the people of Darfur:
"These organizations provide a lifeline to 4.7 million people in Darfur alone, and millions more in other areas of Northern Sudan. While some 85 international NGOs operate in Darfur, without these organisations much of the aid operation literally comes to a halt."
Looks like Kalma camp - one of the largest displaced person camps in Darfur - could run out of water in the next few days.
Rob Crilly, who's currently in Darfur, has further details:
"Yesterday, I toured two camps outside El Fasher. They are home to more than 100,000 people. There were no NGOs moving at all. Hospitals, therapeutic feeding centres, administrative offices were all closed. Their staff had been told to stay at home."
For all my recent criticism of Nicholas Kristof, his blog post over the weekend offered a useful explanation of why other aid agencies which haven't been expelled can't simply pick up the slack:
"First they have their own missions, and everybody is understaffed. Second, Sudan security officials have closed the offices and confiscated the equipment of the expelled NGO’s, and you can’t do a food distribution if you don’t have lists of people who are supposed to get aid; a communications technician for a group that remains can’t shift to treating children with diarrhea, particularly if the clinic and medications have been confiscated. In some areas, the camp managers were expelled, so there is no longer anyone who even knows what is needed. Third, there is a wide variation in the regional impact of the expelled NGO’s. For example, almost all the aid groups in West Darfur were expelled, but a World Vision staff member in South Darfur can’t do anything to save lives in West Darfur."
ReliefWeb has produced an incredible map showing the impact that these expulsions will have - leaving 1 million without potable water, 1.1 million without access to food, and 1.5 million without access to health care.
The decision to expel aid agencies could also destabilize other areas of Sudan, and in particular the Transition Areas on the North-South border. In fact, the entire North-South peace process is tenuous at best.
As for the Sudanese Government - though few predicted their response, they had seemingly been planning these expulsions for a while:
"Rather than the knee-jerk retaliation that some aid workers had feared, the expulsions appeared to be premeditated and carefully planned. They included orders for named employees to leave Sudan within 24 hours, instructions for vehicles to be left at designated assembly points and requests for bank account details."
The Sudanese Government is arguing that they shut down aid agencies which overstepped their mandate by providing information to the ICC. Unfortunately, they can't seem to produce any actual evidence. So, so embarrasing.
That said, Bashir is now threatening other aid groups, as well as diplomatic missions.
And for those hoping that the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Bashir would force China to distance itself from Sudan - not so much. At least judging by China's recent actions at the UN Security Council.
Finally, Thirsty Palmetto reports on expelled aid workers arriving in Nairobi, Kenya.
[Zam Zam IDP camp in Darfur in slightly, marginally better times - Photo from Huffington Post / Mia Farrow]
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