UN: more than 300,000 Darfur displaced in five months

In its latest report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirms that more than 300,000 people have been forcibly displaced in Darfur since the beginning of this year. It attributes the displacement to inter-tribal fighting and conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and armed rebel movements.The US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice noted that more than five times as many people have been displaced in the first few months of 2013 than in the whole of the previous year.Human rights groups and the UN estimate that more than 300,000 of people have died in a decade of war in Darfur, although this toll is disputed by the government, which says around 10,000 people have been killed.The UN estimates that since hostilities began in Darfur in 2003, more than three million people have been displaced.Attash campAccording to the latest count on Thursday, 2,173 displaced families have arrived at the Attash camp near Nyala, Sheikh Abdel Karim Abkar informed Radio Dabanga.Their humanitarian situation is dire. They lack food, shelter, and medicine. Abkar says that 34 families come from Muhajeriya, 388 from Labado, 822 from Marla, 186 from Hijer, 440 from Umm Gunja, and 223 from Abu Jabra. Many have been exposed to attacks and banditry from marauding pro-government militiamen.The sheikh appealed to organisations to move urgently and rescue the displaced, especially considering the continuous flow of new arrivals.Displaced persons from Attash have raised concerns about the shortage of water, health services, and sanitary facilities. The sheikh said the displaced people form long queues to get drinking water. This problem is growing, especially considering the intensification of the summer season and the ever-increasing number of displaced people. The sheikh warned that these conditions heighten the danger of diseases spreading.He therefore renewed his appealed to humanitarian aid organisations to provide treatment for patients, and to help provide more water and adequate sanitation facilities.El Salam campSheikh Mahjoub Adam Tabaldiya of El Samal camp in South Darfur said that on Wednesday alone, 70 families arrived from Ahmed Mustapha village, 30 families from the village of Ardabat Al Omda, and 11 families from Marla village.These new arrivals are further challenging the camp, which is now home to 80,000 newly displaced people. He said: “These families are living at the camp without food or shelter. The humanitarian situation is deteriorating fast, as apart from 3,200 plastic sheets and some utensils, they have yet to receive any meaningful aid.”146 cows stolenNewly displaced persons fleeing the conflict zones are increasingly vulnerable to attacks by marauding groups of militiamen.Pro-government militiamen stole 146 cows belonging to two displaced men of El Salam on Wednesday, injuring the livestock owners. The camp’s sheikh stressed the constant arrival of civilians fleeing militia violence is deepening the urgent need for aid.Sheikh Tabaldiya said a displaced man was shot and wounded as pro-government militiamen robbed him of 38 cows. Khamis Ali was attacked on the road between the camp and the state capital Nyala. He also told Radio Dabanga that the same armed militiamen stole another 108 cows belonging to Saleh Mukhtar on the same road.In a separate incident, militiamen tied Abbakar Hassan and his companion Fatuma Mukhtar to a cart and beat them severely, before stealing a horse.The Sheikh appealed to humanitarian organisations and the Humanitarian Aid Commission to provide urgent assistance to these families.FiguresMore than 30,000 people fled their homes in the Golo and Jildu areas of Central Darfur, because of clashes in the region between government troops and its militias against rebels that began in late December, the UN estimated.Deadly clashes erupted in January over control of a gold mine in North Darfur led to the displacement of at least 150,000 people. At the time, the UN termed it “the biggest forced displacement in Darfur in years”. In addition, tens of thousands from East Jebel Marra fled to Zamzam, Tawila and Shangil Tobaya camps.At least 50,000 people fled Sudan to Chad after fighting between Salamat and Misseriya tribes in Umm Dukhun in Central Darfur. Clashes eventually spilled over to North and South Darfur.The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) termed it “the largest influx of people from Darfur to Chad since 2005”. According to the UN, Chad has received more than 300,000 Sudanese refugees in ten years.On 6 April, rebel forces captured the strategic towns of Labado and Muhajeriya, but the SAF retook them ten days later. Security concerns have kept civilians moving to other locations and this week the UN reported that 60,000 civilians were displaced.Tribal clashes and armed conflicts between government troops and its militias against rebel forces in South Darfur have displaced another hundreds of thousands of people this year. Civilians fled their homes in the areas of Bulbul Dalal El Angara, Umm Gunja, Hijair, Tonjo as well as the Katayla locality.The spokesman for the association of displaced persons and refugees of Darfur told Radio Dabanga on 5 May that a total of 41,441 families have arrived at Kalma camp since the beginning of March. Several thousand more families have fled to other camps in the state.Photo: Refugees displaced by violence in Darfur have settled in Tissi, Chad (MSF)