UN Security Council condemns violence in Kalma IDP Camp

The United Nations Security Council condemned the incitement of violence in Kalma Camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Darfur. On behalf of the Council, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that Kalma Camp should be demilitarized. He said that the Council member states welcomed the efforts of the United Nations peacekeepers to protect the camp.Churkin said that the Security Council members “condemned any attacks against humanitarian or U.N. personnel in Darfur and expressed deep concern at the trend of kidnappings and intimidation. They expressed their continued concern that some restrictions remain on humanitarian access to Kalma Camp and to other areas of Darfur. They recalled the obligations of the Sudanese authorities and all other parties to insure a timely and unhindered humanitarian access.” 

For his part, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, Dafalla Al-Haj Ali Osman, denied that the government has been obstructing activity of aid workers and he affirmed that the policy of the Sudanese government does not prevent access to the camps for aid distribution, but rather the policy aims at ensuring humanitarian assistance without obstruction. Over the last few days the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur has reported “humanitarian organizations continue to access Kalma without restrictions.”