IOM activates refugee repatriation plan at Beitbridge

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it has begun to implement a contingency plan to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwean migrants who may be forcibly returned from South Africa following the end of a regularisation campaign on 31 December 2010.

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Source: The Zimbabwean (Article first published January 08 2011)

One doctor for 16,200 refugees

IRIN

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Expulsions leave gaps in Three Areas, eastern region

(IRIN) – NGO expulsions have left humanitarian gaps not only in Darfur, but also in eastern Sudan and the so-called Three Areas bordering on Southern Sudan, Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile – volatile regions key to the success of a 2005 peace accord.

“The expulsions have left large parts of the Three Areas and eastern Sudan without humanitarian assistance or recovery and reintegration support,” writes Sara Pantuliano, research fellow with the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute. “Unlike in Darfur, there is very little additional capacity beyond the expelled agencies to even attempt to fill these gaps.”

Before its expulsion, Oxfam GB was working in Red Sea State, eastern Sudan. “We have been working with very remote, marginalised communities who have very little support from anywhere else,” Alun McDonald, Oxfam GB regional media and communications officer for Horn, East and Central Africa, told IRIN. The region, which has high rates of poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy, often suffers regular floods and droughts.

“Last time the floods hit, many villages were submerged and thousands of people lost their homes, animals and farms… if the floods strike again this year, with nearly all the aid agencies expelled, communities will be extremely vulnerable,” McDonald said. “The decision to expel us from eastern Sudan will affect the poorest people in the state.”

Children at risk

Kassala and Red Sea states have the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan, according to ODI. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that the expulsions will leave more than 100,000 vulnerable children in northern Sudan without support.

Access to health services has also been reduced in Southern Kordofan. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), at least 30 percent of the state’s health facilities remain without direct implementing partner support, and may suspend services in routine immunisation, nutrition and feeding programmes following the expulsions.

“…The expulsion means we can no longer support 56 health clinics that we’ve helped to build or rehabilitate since the peace agreement in 2005. We can no longer provide these clinics with essential medicines, staff training or support for community health education initiatives,” Kurt Tjossem, International Rescue Committee (IRC) regional director for the Horn and East Africa region, told IRIN.

Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN

Children learn under a tree in Southern Kordofan (file photo): The expulsion of NGOs will affect education and child protection projects in eastern Sudan and the Three Areas

Before its expulsion, the IRC was working in Kassala, Red Sea, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan “… supporting… lifesaving medical care, water, sanitation and livelihoods for around 1.1 million people”.

Now, the IRC has been forced to stop its water and sanitation programmes in these areas. Fewer than 40 percent of the population of Kassala and Red Sea states have access to safe drinking water.

“In former SPLM [Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement, which governs Southern Sudan and is a partner in the national unity government, GNU] areas of both Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, particularly Kaoda and Kurmuk, NGOs deliver most essential services,” according to the ODI.

The expulsion of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Save the Children UK also affected education and child protection projects. NRC had been active in Sudan since 2004 and was implementing education and school construction projects in Southern Kordofan.

Save the Children UK was working with community groups on children’s rights, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. “This [the expulsion] has very worrying implications for the 50,000 children we are currently supporting in Khartoum and the north-east of the country,” said Ken Caldwell, Save the Children UK’s director of international operations.

Peace threat

According to ODI, “it may also be difficult for Sudanese NGOs from Northern Sudan to work in some of the more politicised camps in… former SPLM-controlled areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile”.

The expulsions are also “likely to have a direct negative impact on ongoing efforts to promote peace and stability, especially in Abyei and Southern Kordofan, both through the provision of ‘peace dividends’ and reconciliation activities”, according to Pantuliano. “These areas are already unserved or underserved by the state GNU, and the withdrawal of services provided by departing NGOs will increase levels of frustration.” There has been growing discontent in Southern Kordofan.

Photo: Timothy Mckulka/UNMIS

SPLA soldiers redeploy from Abyei (file photo): Clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces and the SPLA in May 2008 displaced thousands in Southern Kordofan and Abyei

Abyei, Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and the eastern region have only recently emerged from conflict and remain highly volatile, she said. Clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in May 2008 displaced about 60,000 civilians in Southern Kordofan and Abyei.

Relations within the GNU could also be affected. “… The decision to expel the international NGOs may also increase tensions between the ruling National Congress Party and the SPLM, as it appears that the latter was not consulted on the decision,” according to ODI. “The SPLM is seeking to contest the move in order to allow the organisations concerned to continue operating at least in former SPLM-controlled areas of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan, as well as in Abyei.

“As with the SPLM, the Eastern Front was not consulted about the expulsions. The front, which is currently undergoing a political crisis, is likely to be further alienated from Eastern Sudan society, particularly youth, potentially fuelling fresh unrest.”

Conditions getting worse for Darfur civilians

Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN

A civilian in El Salaam IDP Camp, North Darfur (file photo): Conditions for civilians caught up in fighting between the Sudanese government and rebels in the South Darfur town of Muhajiriya are getting worse

Conditions for civilians caught up in fighting between the Sudanese government and rebels in the South Darfur town of Muhajiriya are getting worse, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned.

“I am extremely concerned at the impact the fighting is having on the already dire humanitarian situation in Muhajiriya,” High Commissioner Navi Pillay said on 3 February.

The fighting, which started on 15 January, has claimed at least 30 lives and uprooted some 30,000 people from their homes. It pits government forces and the Sudanese Liberation Army/Mini Minnawi faction (SLA/MM) against the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The SLA/MM faction is led by Mini Minnawi, who became a presidential adviser after signing a peace deal with the government in 2006.

In recent days, about 5,000 of the displaced civilians have sought refuge around the African Union-UN Mission (UNAMID) compound in Muhajiriya, about 80km east of the state capital, Nyala. Others have fled to seek shelter in the outskirts of the town.

Pillay urged the government and both armed groups involved to allow access to humanitarian workers to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.

Aerial bombardments

“The fighting is reported to have involved ground offensives and indiscriminate aerial bombardment by government forces which failed to distinguish between civilian communities and military targets, Pillay said.

“JEM forces are also reported to have deliberately placed themselves in areas heavily populated by civilians, thereby jeopardising their safety.”

AU appeal

In Addis Ababa, the African Union urged the parties to the conflict to “give peace a chance and instead utilise the mediation of Djibril Bassole, the AU-UN Joint Mediator, and the ongoing Afro-Arab Initiative as an avenue towards bringing a peaceful and lasting settlement to the Darfur”.

Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN

Armed men from the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM/A) in south Darfur (file photo): The fighting pits government forces and the SLA/Mini Minnawi faction against the rebel Justice and Equality Movement

The AU appeal came after the Sudanese authorities told UNAMID to withdraw its forces from Muhajiriya by the beginning of February “to prevent casualties among UNAMID troops and citizens during the operation” to restore control over the town, according to a government statement published on the official Sudan News Agency.

UNAMID has since engaged in high-level diplomatic and political consultations to ensure that it maintains its presence in Muhajiriya, saying this would allow the mission to “carry out its mandated tasks of providing protection to the civilian population and secure the provision of humanitarian assistance to those who need it”.

On 4 February, JEM offered to withdraw from the town, on condition that it be administered by UNAMID as a “non-military” zone, according to UN Radio Miraya. The army rejected JEM’s condition.

The fighting began after Muhajiriya was taken over by JEM from the SLA/MM. Vowing to recapture the town, the army bombed the area and sent ground troops to fight JEM, arguing that it was acting in self-defence to maintain security and stability in Darfur and to protect aid convoys from bandits.

According to Sudan expert Alex de Waal, the situation has escalated ahead of a possible decision by the International Criminal Court on charges related to war crimes in Darfur against President Omar al-Bashir.- IRIN