The UN food relief agency are warning that they’re unable to distribute aid in northern Darfur due to the deteriorating security situation:
Ethnic warfare in Sudan is spreading so quickly that 6,500 people in Darfur are being driven from their homes every day, the United Nations has warned.
In a devastating assessment, the UN has also said it is now unable to distribute aid to northern Darfur due to security risks – a Scottish humanitarian worker was killed by a landmine last Sunday.
Some 220,000 Sudanese….have been made refugees in the past four weeks alone, as Janjaweed Arab militiamen continue their campaign against non-Arab villages. […]
Manuel Aranda Da Silva, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan, said the tentative ceasefire had been replaced by violence so severe that his team could no longer operate in much of the country.
The Dutch foreign minister Ben Bot on the other hand, leading a delegation from the EU, was deeply impressed by his talks in Khartoum with the Sudanese government:
“What is important is that the Sudanese government has adopted an open and positive attitude,” said Mr Bot, representing the rotating EU presidency. He went on to suggest – then dismiss – a December deadline for sanctions.
“If it turns out that in the next two months the situation is worsening, then there is no other option for us than to apply sanctions and we have made that crystal clear,” he said.
But Mustafa Osman Ismail, his Sudanese counterpart, immediately criticised the idea, saying sanctions would smack of a “colonial” European attitude towards Sudan. “International and military intervention on Darfur and imposing sanctions against Sudan are ruled out,” he said.
At that point, Mr Bot seemed to backtrack immediately. “There is no question of a deadline or timetable for sanctions,” he then said. “What is important is that we continue dialogue.”
Absolutely. The most important thing is not to be seen to be adopting colonial attitudes. With Ben Bot on the case, the people of Darfur need fear no more.
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