UN calls for demilitarization of Darfur camps

The UN Security Council called for the demilitarization of camps for hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Darfur and unhindered access for aid workers the UN says are facing increasing harassment and violence.

The council heard briefings from UN peacekeeping and humanitarian officials mainly on the situation in Kalma Camp, one of the largest, where demonstrations in late July by opponents of peace talks with the Government turned violent and humanitarian workers were barred for two weeks.

Fighting in Darfur that began with a 2003 rebellion by groups who accused the Government of neglecting the vast desert region has left up to 300,000 people dead and forced 2.7 million to flee their homes – many to camps in Sudan’s vast western region, according to UN figures.

UN officials remain concerned about the presence of weapons and armed groups inside Kalma and other camps for the internally displaced, known as IDPs.

The Security Council in a statement condemned the violence in Kalma, welcomed efforts by the joint UNAfrican Union peacekeeping force to increase patrols and restore calm there, and called for the demilitarization of Kalma and other IDP camps in Darfur.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Council President, said the camps are supposed to be demilitarized, and both the UN and the joint force, known as UNAMID, are ‘’focused on the need to have demilitarized status in those camps.’’

‘’The problem is, weapons are flowing all over the place, not just in the camps but outside,’’ he said.

UN officials have warned that any coercive disarmament campaign would have serious implications for UNAMID’s impartiality as well as efforts to achieve peace in Darfur – and privately some have warned that any such effort could spark conflict. The UN has offered to advise and help a disarmament program that is voluntary, non-coercive and comprehensive. ‘’The forceful extraction of weapons out of the camp is not a part of UNAMID’s mandate,’’ Churkin said.

Tensions have been high at Kalma since the July demonstrations left at least five people dead. Sudan’s UN Ambassador Dafa Alla on Monday blamed opponents of peace talks for the violence and put the toll at 10 killed and more than 20 injured.

Kalma has a strong base of supporters of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, which is not taking part in talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the seven-year Darfur war.

The Security Council urged all parties to join the Doha talks and expressed concern at restrictions on humanitarian access to Kalma and other areas in Darfur, and ‘at the trend of kidnappings and intimidation’ of relief workers.

Humanitarian workers were barred from Kalma from August 2 to the 16 when several UN agencies and local aid groups were allowed to deliver medicine and fuel for the camp’s water pumps.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes warned the council that ‘’the humanitarian situation in Darfur has been steadily deteriorating again this year’’ with the resumption of fighting between government forces and rebel groups as well as increased tribal clashes.

‘’The level of restrictions imposed on humanitarian operations, and of harassment, threats and violence directed at humanitarian personnel, is once again becoming unacceptable,’’ he said.

At Kalma, Holmes said, a recent assessment by humanitarian organizations found that of the 82,000 people in the camp before the violence, between 50,000 and 60,000 remain while some 15,000 appear to have fled to South Darfur’s capital, Nyala, and another 10,000 to surrounding areas.

In the camp, he said, a health clinic and school were burned along with some shelters.

Sudan’s Alla said the Government will launch a new strategy in the coming days to involve a broader spectrum of society in the peace effort including local parliamentarians, chieftains, tribal leaders and members of civil society.

The Government will also encourage the rebuilding of villages and areas where the displaced persons lived so they can go home, and step up efforts to ensure the safety and protection of humanitarian workers, he said.

The Dawn