Darfur: Situation no better

2004-07-26 23:43

Nairobi - The humanitarian situation in Sudan's western Darfur region, where pro-government militias have been accused of conducting a brutal and systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing, is not improving despite improved access to the region, the humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday.

"The desperate condition of the people there is not improving despite greater access to the area and more agencies and aid workers arriving," MSF said.

"There are pockets of real disaster, where people are at grave risk of dying in large numbers," added MSF International President Rowan Gillies, who just returned from a month in Darfur.

MSF is particularly worried about the food situation, saying that even with the recently improved deliveries from the World Food Programme, only half of the basic needs for food will be met in July.

The conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region began in February 2003 with a rebel uprising against Khartoum, protesting that the largely black African region had been ignored by the Arab government.

The civilian population subsequently suffered atrocities at the hands of pro-government Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who are known to use mass rape as a weapon of war.

The conflict has claimed up to 50 000 lives and about 1.2 million have been displaced, with about 200 000 people taking refuge in neighbouring Chad, according to UN officials.

- AFP