SPLM-N urges Khartoum to declare state of emergency in Sudan

The secretary-general of the rebel faction Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) urged Khartoum to declare a state of emergency in areas affected by rains in Sudan.Yasir Arman also asked international agencies to save the Sudanese people “affected by rain and floods” and the ruling National Congress Party to allow the delivery of aid.This week, the spokesman of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) said that recent rain and flood in Sudan “revealed the inability of the President to deal with the humanitarian disaster” caused as a result thereof. He called upon the government to immediately declare Sudan a “disaster zone”. The US embassy in Khartoum recently announced it will donate $50,000 to in humanitarian assistance to support populations affected by the recent heavy rainfall in the country.In addition, the first of eight Qatari aid aeroplanes has arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday carryingmedicine, food, material for shelter. A private Ethiopian aeroplane has also recently arrived in the country carrying 74 tonnes of tents and plastic sheets.According to UN OCHA, this year’s rain victims have amounted so far to about 150,000 across the whole country. Government sources say that 23,000 families have been affected by rain in the whole country.Meanwhile, SPLM-N Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner, Hasim Orta, stressed that thousands of displaced people in Blue Nile, especially in Nagees and Kalagua, are living in a “tragic and catastrophic situation since the outbreak of incidents in the state”. “The continuous bombing by the Sudanese Air Force on these two areas of Blue Nile led to the displacement of several civilians who are now living in deplorable humanitarian conditions.”News photo by Nafeer Sudan Related: Sudan opposition criticises Khartoum’s ‘inability’ to deal with rain (13 August 2013)Rains destroy 2,455 houses across Darfur (13 August 2013)