Sudanese Government Blocking Aid Flights in Darfur

by Michael Bear · 2009-02-14 09:15:00 UTC
Topics:

Many thanks to my genocide co-blogger Michelle, for highlighting this story - the Sudanese Government has been blocking aid flights to Muhajariya, Shearia and Labado in South Darfur, preventing aid agencies from getting food and water to 100,000 people.

There has been large-scale fighting in these areas over the past few weeks.

According to Reuters:

"Aid agencies had tried to get into the areas four times since the weekend but had failed to get clearance for humanitarian flights, said the statement from the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It did not say who had failed to clear the flights or what had caused the problem.

But a U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the requests had been held up by Sudan's national security service and the government's Humanitarian Aid Commission despite repeated requests. The commission was not immediately available for comment."

All of which begs the question of whether the Sudanese refusal has anything to do with the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrent for President Omar Bashir?

(Or, more accurately, possibly, probably issue an arrest warrant.)

It's certainly not beyond the realm of possiblity that the Sudanese Government is trying - in its own happy, homicidal way - to send a message to the international community, about the possible consequences of the ICC's actions.

For all the talk about how the ICC provides leverage over Sudan, let's not forget that Sudan has leverage of its own.

Finally - haven't yet responded to Michelle's recent post - Responsibility for Darfur: In Whose Bloodstained Hands? - but it's coming, it's definitely coming.

[UN Humanitarian Air Services - Photo from OCHA / Sudan]

Michael Bear
PREVIOUS STORY:
Valentine's Day in Israel - Poem by Bruce Taub
NEXT STORY:
A letter from Bettina Siegel, "Pink Slime" petition creator

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.