Tradegy in Darfur

Headheeb.blogmosis.com wrote,"No more relief
One lesson learned through bitter experience in the Darfur-Chad-CAR conflict is never to assume that things have hit bottom. And if the Norwegian Refugee Council's pullout from the region proves to be a bellwether for other relief agencies, the humanitarian situation may be about to get worse in a major way:

he international humanitarian organisation Norwegian Refugee Council has closed down its relief operations in Darfur, western Sudanese, a move it said will affect 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the troubled region.
"We have been suspended by the government for the last two months for no clear reason," Astrid Sehl, NRC media and communications officer said on Friday. "We have tried to get into dialogue with the authorities to discuss whether we can come back, but they do not seem interested."

The IDPs who have been receiving protection and humanitarian aid from the NRC include some 93,000 in Kalma, of whom 19,000 are children enrolled in an education programme and 128,000 in Gereida. Both camps are in South Darfur State. Others are 10,000 in Otash and 52,000 who have been receiving food aid in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State. Otash camp has recently seen the arrival of more IDPs as a result of continuing violence.

The NRC said working conditions in Darfur had become impossible. "The frequent disruption of our humanitarian work, such as suspension for a sum total of 210 days, is forcing us to take this very difficult decision," Tomas C. Archer, the Secretary-General, who recently met authorities in South Darfur and Khartoum, said in a statement.


One can always hope for the best, but I very much doubt that the NRC will be the last organization to quit Darfur. In the past few months, many other relief agencies have cut back their operations in the area due to the deteriorating security situation, and the danger is only increasing as the fighting heats up. If enough agencies pull out, then hundreds of thousands of IDPs will have to choose between a long, uncertain desert journey to more "stable" regions such as Niger or Cameroon, and the even more uncertain prospect of remaining in a war-torn region without food or security. The United Nations isn't even close to prepared for a refugee flow of this size, and the potential humanitarian catastrophe could exceed what has gone before. This is not a drill, and there's very little time left to wait on Khartoum to permit a stabilizing presence."
The blog at Head Heeb is a very good source for information on various conflicts around the world.