Life-threatening situation in Mellit – aid agencies in Sudan alarmed

The health situation of thousands of new arrivals at the Unamid site at Mellit in North Darfur is life threatening. Today UN agencies embarked on a mission to Mellit to try to convince the local authorities to allow emergency response. Aid organisations in North Darfur say the alarming situation affects 4,400 newly displaced, who fled clashes in their home areas and have been sheltering at the Unamid site since March 2014. The local authorities insist on relocating the displaced, but they have not disclosed any new location, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The displaced are unwilling to relocate, fearing for their safety. OCHA has been negotiating with the authorities to permit basic emergency humanitarian interventions, such as the construction of temporary latrines and communal shelters. Unicef has requested humanitarian organisations supporting interventions to mobilise the displaced to build their own drainage latrines as a temporary measure against disease. The UN World Food Programme has distributed emergency rations, including one month of nutritional supplies. File photo: The meagre shelters of the displaced in Mellit, North Darfur (Hamid Abdulsalam / Unamid)Related:North Darfur displaced living rough refuse relocation (27 May 2014)Darfur displaced in need of tents, tarpaulins before rainy season (5 May 2014)