Unamid Head of Media Relations comments on ‘challenges’ in Darfur

Many civilians in Darfur have been forced to flee their villages and towns recently. In South Darfur thousands of people had to flee the attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on the area southeast of Nyala on 27 and 28 February. In North Darfur, residents of Saraf Omra town and the surrounding villages were attacked by Musa Hilal’s militias on 7 and 8 March, also causing thousands of civilians to seek refuge in the camps for the displaced or in other places. Listeners, displaced, and camp elders regularly criticise the inability of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid) to protect the civilians. Reason for Radio Dabanga to ask the Unamid Head of Media Relations, Christopher Cycmanick, about what Unamid is doing to assist the newly displaced in North and South Darfur, and if they could do more to protect the population of Darfur. Asked about the situation in North Darfur’s Alliet, El Taweisha, and Kalamindo localities, where armed movements claimed to have taken control of these localities on 5 March, Cycmanick replied that the information has reached Unamid. “We have heard that people were displaced, but we have not been able to verify the details. A big challenge for Unamid consists of the large distances in Darfur. Our nearest team site lies about 160km from El Taweisha, and some 200km from Alliet. We also need to be allowed access to these areas. Many times the authorities or the armed movements stop Unamid from sending a patrol to an area of conflict.” The Governor of North Darfur has estimated the number of displaced in the three localities to be about 300,000. Unamid thinks that this estimation may be quite high. “We’d better wait for the reports of the governmental Humanitarian Affairs Commission on the ground.” Saraf Omra “The three patrols Unamid sent to Saraf Omra town on Sunday, were able to confirm widespread looting in the town. “They did not provide us with details about people killed and injured, but they did verify that a large part of the town was empty. Most of the houses had been plundered, but the local market place was entirely destroyed. The patrols did not mention that they had seen houses burned down.” “It is not unlikely that there have been cases of arson, but cannot be verified right now, not from our side. Most of the properties are intact but plundered. Most probably the patrols sent today to Saraf Omra will provide us with more information.” “We know that the fighting in Saraf Omra erupted between different communities. The Abbala, Gimir, and Tama tribes were involved. Which tribe is the main responsible for the violence is up for debate. As far as I understand, until now it is not clear who is in control of the area.” “The estimates of newly displaced in the area are varied. Unamid understood from the humanitarian community that they are assisting approximately 55,000 people who fled from Saraf Omra and the surrounding villages. Earlier, Unamid estimated the number of newly displaced on tens of thousands. However, the numbers could be more. Many people are still wandering in the wilderness. At the moment, it is hard to provide a number that is somehow accurate.” “We had thousands of people inside our team site near Saraf Omra on 7 March. We provided them with emergency assistance. Currently they are camping on the outskirts, around our team site.” South Darfur “The situation of the newly displaced in South Darfur is still very bad. Many people from the areas under attack, south of Nyala, fled to the nearby camps for the displaced, in particular El Salam and Kalma camps. The international community reported the arrival of 4,000 households to the camps. Until now, Unamid has estimated the number of newly displaced around 12,000 people, mostly from the areas of Hijer and Um Gunja. An estimated 20,000 people fled to the area of Sani Deleiba. We were actually able to bring in some lorries of the World Food Programme to deliver food to those people some days ago. One of the biggest challenges is the arrangement of assistance for the newly displaced. Access to the area has been denied five times. We have tried to send half a dozen of patrols, but again the authorities did not grant us access. We do need to receive immediate access to these areas, as the conditions the people are in, are dire. People are trying to survive in makeshift shelters; others have taken refuge under donkey carts. They are searching for any type of possible shelter.” “We have increased our patrols in South Darfur. We are trying to provide aid as much as we can in terms of water, but the people are still in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Indeed the main obstacle the Mission continues to face is the authorities’ refusal to grant us unhindered access – which makes our job much more difficult.” ‘Challenges’ “The Mission has a presence in almost all the 99 camps identified throughout Darfur. We cannot be everywhere. Unamid has one peacekeeper per every 100 square kilometres. Darfur is a very large territory. If something happens in Alliet, and we are allowed to send a patrol to the area, it could take a day or two to arrive there. Also we do not have the helicopters like we used to have, in order to quickly arrive at the area where our support is needed. On average, there are more than 150 patrols conducted every day, which has made a lot of places safer indeed.” “Recently, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pointed to the many challenges Unamid is dealing with. Not only the many conflicts erupting in Darfur, between army troops and armed movement forces or between different communities, are a big challenge, we also need unhindered access to affected areas. Another issue is the delivery of equipment required for Unamid’s operations. This should be improved too.” ‘Redoubled effort’On 7 March, Radio Dabanga reported on the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on Darfur presented to the UN Security Council, in which he proposed a “redoubled effort by Unamid” to improve the effectiveness of the peacekeeping mission. “The prevalence of arms and armed actors is to be reduced through disarmament, as well as safe, timely, and unhindered humanitarian access. Safety and security for humanitarian personnel should be improved.” File photo: Unamid troops patrolling in the rainy season (Albert Gonzalez Farran/Unamid) Related: UN-chief considers ‘hard decisions’ for Darfur peace mission (7 March 2014)Escalating violence: Unamid calls for unhindered access in South Darfur (3 March 2014)