Darfur, Another
Failure Of
The International Community
By Arjan El Fassed
writing from El Fasher, Sudan
02 March, 2005
The
Electronic Intifada
The
debate on Darfur is in danger of sounding like a historical exercise.
No one should forget that people are still being killed, still being
forced to flee their homes, still suffering each and every day. Though
the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance
of international peace and security, it has not been able to address
and resolve this conflict. No party in this crisis has taken adequate
measures to ensure the cessation of violence against civilians in spite
of the many assurances made. Over 20 months since they were burned out
of their villages and after numerous promises from the Government of
Sudan and world leaders, people's lives are still under daily threat.
Despite several
resolutions and pledges since that time, neither the Government of Sudan
nor the international community has provided sufficient assistance and
security to the people in Darfur. The people of Darfur have endured
a vicious campaign of violence and terror which has led to massive deaths
and forced two million people to flee from their destroyed villages
in search of safety.
In response to the
natural disaster of the tsunami, the world united to save lives. In
Darfur, people are dying needlessly because of other peoples actions,
yet the world has responded with half measures and empty promises. More
than 1.8 million people have already been forced to flee their homes,
many having seen their families killed, abducted, abused or raped. The
UN estimates that at least 70,000 people have died since the start of
the conflict.
Two million people
remain displaced and homeless, having sought shelter in camps, school
buildings, or temporary shelters in other villages. 200,000 have crossed
the border into the remote, barren regions of eastern Chad. Those who
fled often brought just the clothes they were wearing. Some people were
able to bring animals -- if they were not killed or stolen in attacks
-- but they often died on the way. Many people now have virtually nothing.
While the warring
parties battle over control of towns or villages, those who live there
are forced to run. Civilians are not just caught in the crossfire
they continue to be targeted by militias and other armed groups. Even
when they have fled they are still not safe. There are daily reports
of civilians being attacked and harassed throughout Darfur. Many women
are afraid to venture outside of camps or towns to collect firewood
for fear of beating, abduction and rape. Some women have suffered horrific
injuries in these violent attacks.
People continue
to arrive in camps and villages fleeing insecurity. At the end of December
thousands of people arrived at camps in both North and South Darfur
fleeing fresh fighting. Those who have fled are living in terrible
crowded and unhygienic conditions. They do not have enough food, water,
sanitation or medicine, and lack even basic items like soap, buckets
for water, and materials to make shelter.
After a poor rainy
season, and with such pressure on water supplies, the lack of water
is now becoming critical. In a number of places in Darfur groundwater
levels are dropping, and soon the existing wells will not be able to
supply enough water for the hundreds of thousands living in crowded
camps and villages. Without sufficient access to clean water, the threat
of malnutrition and disease are greatly increased. The dwindling supply
of water is the source of much of that misery. As the dry season lingers,
water tables are dropping and bore holes are running dry. There simply
is not enough water at many locations for all the people camped at them.
The water shortage has also stymied the effort to open new camps, forcing
tens of thousands of newly homeless people to crowd into sites already
exploding with populations the size of small cities. A short distance
from Abu Shouk camp in North Darfur, aid groups finally gave up on their
plans to open a new camp after repeatedly drilling for water on the
site and coming up dry. Abu Shouk, formerly an empty stretch of desert,
now has 90,000 people camped around its water taps and bore holes. About
30,000 of them have arrived in the last two months.
Water shortages
arent the only impediments to opening new camps. The process is
slow and tricky: There are questions of land ownership to sort out and
locals often fearjustifiablythat having a camp placed in
their midst would put an intolerable strain on their limited natural
resources, such as wood for cooking fires and pasture for their animals.
Some of the families
that have recently arrived in camps dont have any shelter at all,
but have just set their few belongings down on the ground in open areas
of the new arrivals area of the camps. Thousands have arrived
in the last six weeks, fleeing violent attacks and fighting between
government troops and rebel forces. The new arrivals at the overflowing
camps often suffer most. Many have little food, few materials with which
to build shelters, and no access to even the most basic facilities,
such as latrines. As the weather warms up, diarrhoea is on the rise.
Overcrowding increases the chance that diseases will ripple through
whole camp populations.
Some have travelled
for many days, often hiding along the way out of fear of being attacked
again. With so many people living in cramped conditions there is enormous
risk of disease. There are high rates of malnutrition, bloody diarrhoea,
and waterborne diseases such as Hepatitis E (jaundice), and cases of
respiratory diseases and pneumonia are increasing as the cold weather
sets in. The World Health Organisation estimates that every month 10,000
people are dying as a result of living in these terrible conditions.
Host communities,
those already living in towns and villages before the displaced people
arrived, are also suffering. The populations of many towns have swelled
massively, well beyond their ability to cope, and there is enormous
pressure on the limited resources of water, firewood and grazing land.
Buying food is becoming increasingly difficult as market prices soar
in some areas the cost of a chicken has risen by 800%. We are
still six months away from the next rains. People do not know what they
will eat next year.
Competition for
already scarce resources is leading to growing tension between displaced
people and host communities. Those communities will need help too. The
UN estimates that 2.2 million people throughout Darfur will need food
aid in the coming months.
Many people had
not been able to plant due to continuing violence and attacks on rural
villages. Thanks to poor rains those that were able to sow their fields
are now reporting crop failures, particularly in North Darfur. There
is every indication that the harvest will be poor this year, leaving
many people totally dependant on food assistance until next years
harvest.
The fighting and
insecurity that led many people to flee their homes has not stopped,
and most displaced people are still too afraid to return to their villages.
In many cases, even if they could go back they have nothing to return
to. The temporary camps and shelters have been home to hundreds
of thousands of people for a year already and are likely to remain
their home for months to come.
The U.N. Security
Council has passed three resolutions on Sudan in the past year without
calling for effective measures. The cost of delaying action is high.
Arjan El Fassed
is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada. He recently visited various
camps and towns in Darfur