‘No aid arrived for the newly displaced so far’

No aircrafts or aid shipments have reached Al-Sref Beni Hussein, Kabkabiya and Saraf Omra in North Darfur until Wednesday evening, 16 January, sources reported to Radio Dabanga. The aid shipments were due to arrive to the area for the displaced people from Jebel ‘Amer, as announced by the governor of North Darfur on Tuesday. The governor of North Darfur announced on Tuesday that the first plane carrying aid to localities affected by the week-long violence in the gold mining areas of Jebel ‘Amer, departed from El Fasher, the state’s capital. Sources from Saraf Omra and Kabkabiya told Radio Dabanga that until Wednesday evening no aid had arrived to the area, despite the announcements made in the media. They described the conditions of the newly displaced people in the two cities as “difficult”. Al-Sref Beni HusseinReports from the city of Al-Sref Beni Hussein, which accommodates an estimated 100,000 displaced according to the locality’s commissioner, claim that no relief has reached the area until Wednesday evening. Sources told Radio Dabanga no plane carrying aid has arrived to the area, as announced by the governor on Tuesday. They described the humanitarian situation in the city as “dangerous” and “going from bad to worse”, as tens of thousands of people are living in the streets, schools and in government buildings. The sources added that the displaced are suffering from the extreme cold and stressed that the city ran out of consumer goods. It was added that diarrhea is emerging among children, caused by the over crowdedness as well as a deterioration of cattle’s health conditions due to the lack of farmlands in the surrounding villages. The people of Al-Sref Beni Hussein appealed to national and international humanitarian organizations to act urgently to save the newly displaced in the area. File photoRelated: Tribal clashes displace over 100.000 families to N. Darfur town (14 January 2013)