AFRICA/SUDAN - “Security of internally displaced persons in Darfur must be guaranteed” Laura Boldrini in charge of UN High Commission for Refugees Italian branch told Fides

Wednesday, 22 September 2004

Rome (Fides Service)- “The first priority is to guarantee security for internally displaced persons who have fled for safety to other villages in Darfur” Laura Boldrini in charge of UN High Commission for Refugees UNHCR Italian branch told Fides in a report on the humanitarian situation in Darfur. “Although a cease fire has been announced Janjaweed militia have not stopped their attacks on civilians. Very often people who move to another village live like prisoners. They are afraid to leave the village for fear of the militiamen. Reportedly women have been raped while fetching water and firewood,” Ms Boldrini told Fides.
“The international community must use more pressure to stop the violence: everyone knows now that Darfur is the world’s most serious humanitarian emergency. The government of Sudan has the duty to protect its civilian population and to stop the fighting. There have been no more recent reports of government airforce raids on villages by government planes, but eyewitnesses confirm that until August air raids were co-ordinated with land attacks by the militia. No sooner the bombs were dropped horsemen would raid the burning villages”.
So far the violence in Darfur has killed between 30 to 50 thousand people, left one million internally displaced and caused 150,000 others to seek refugee in neighbouring Chad.
On Thursday 23 September Ruud Lubbers UN High Commissioner for Refugees will start a five-day mission to Chad and Sudan to verify the work of UNHCR operators to protect and assist hundreds of thousands of refugees in and from Darfur.
Lubbers will reach N'Djamena, capital of Chad, in the late afternoon and have meetings with government officials, UNHCR staff and operators of partner agencies before going to the town of Abeché, where UNHCR has its eastern Chad base. About 200,000 refugees from Darfur fled to Chad and 170,000 of them are in various camps in eastern Chad.
On Saturday 25 September Ruud Lubbers is due to visit a refugee camp near the town of Iriba. On Sunday he will cross the border to go to El Geneina in Sudan, to meet UNHCR staff and members of partner agencies involved in humanitarian operations in Darfur and speak with local Sudanese government officials. He will also visit Darfur refugees at a camp in Sudan. UNHCR’s many activities and commitments for and in Darfur include: sending a mobile team to the border region to monitor the presence of displaced persons; helping to open centres to assist women in 7 different camps; transporting non food aid for the refugees from Amman, Jordan. Before the end of this week 7 cargo planes financed by USAID (the US government aid agency) will deliver 20,000 UNHCR plastic sheets and 40,000 blankets for refugees in camps in Nyala and El Kasher in Darfur. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/9/2004 righe 45 parole 548)


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