UN demands urgent aid for Sudan

2006-04-04 14:19

Cairo - The United Nations called on Tuesday for urgent action to support demining operations in southern Sudan, warning that the war-ravaged region could not rebuild amid the risk of landmines.

The UN's mine action office in Sudan said that thousands of landmines were obstructing the implementation of Sudan's peace deal.

It said: "Landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to kill and maim people of Sudan, they also continue to hamper delivery of humanitarian aid, return of refugees and internally displaced people."

1 800 people killed

There was no accurate data available on the number of landmine victims in Sudan, but the UN reported that some 1 800 people had been killed or injured for the past five years.

It emphasised that mine-clearing and public awareness had to be stepped up as "there is a high possibility of an increase in the number of victims caused by the movement of returnees".

Since the January 2005 north-south peace deal, some of the hundreds of thousands of southerners displaced by the two-decade civil war had started to return to their villages.

But, humanitarian agencies operating in Sudan had warned that the journey home could be perilous and that roads and other infrastructure could not be built unless demining efforts were intensified.

Reconstruction of roads

Manuel Aranda da Silva, the UN's deputy special representative to Sudan, said: "Without demining, reconstruction of roads, schools, hospitals and any other post-war recovery and development project can't be implemented.

"I request donors to renew and even increase their support towards humanitarian mine action in Sudan, and to take into account the humanitarian and developmental impact of landmines and ERW at this crucial moment in Sudan."

According to UN estimates, between 15 000 and 20 000 people were killed or disabled by landmines and unexploded ordnance around the world each year. Some 20% of them were children.

- AFP