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Humanitarian concerns in Sudan
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Crisis in Sudan
UNHCR obviously shares the deep concern of the Secretary-General and the rest of the UN system over the ordered departure of several NGOs from Sudan and the serious implications this has for humanitarian efforts on behalf of hundreds of thousands of extremely vulnerable people in Darfur and elsewhere.
For UNHCR’s part, at least five of the NGOs asked to leave Sudan have been UNHCR implementing partners carrying out important humanitarian programmes in Darfur but also Blue Nile State and Khartoum State. So it is noteworthy that this could have an impact not only on Darfur, but on vulnerable people elsewhere in the country.
We also have to be concerned at the possible implications this could have more broadly in the region. Our experience shows that when vulnerable populations are unable to get the help they need, they go elsewhere in search of protection and assistance. If food can’t get through to people, for example, then those people will soon suffer and have to look elsewhere.
With some 4.7 million Sudanese - including 2.7 million internally displaced - already receiving assistance in Darfur, we are very concerned over the prospect of new population movements in the region should the fragile aid lifeline inside Sudan be disrupted. There are also 40,000 Chadian refugees in West Darfur.
Our work for internally displaced people as part of the UN team in Darfur has helped IDPs stay as close to home as possible while also relieving pressure on neighbouring Chad, where UNHCR and its partners are already caring for nearly 250,000 refugees from Darfur in a string of 12 remote camps spread over 600 kms near the Sudan border. These isolated camps and the remote communities surrounding them are already struggling to provide the basics needed to sustain 250,000 refugees. In addition, there are some 180,000 internally displaced persons in eastern Chad.
Any influx to Chad would be an additional challenge for UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies because of ongoing insecurity and instability in the country, as well as limited resources such as water.
Two weeks in Chad in early October became the most memorable experience in my 20 year fund-raising career. To get a brief tour of a camp in Eastern Chad visit YouTube:
Eastern Chad hosts 257,000 refugees from Darfur in 12 UNHCR camps along the Sudan border and 167,000 internally displaced people. There are 52,000 refugees from the Central African Republic in Southern Chad.
I joined a small group visiting Djabal and Gaga refugee camps in Eastern Chad and an IDP settlement in Goz Beida. We then traveled south and visited Gondje, Dosseye and Moundou camps.
I came away with some vivid memories. The three teenage brothers whose parents had been killed in Darfur, one of the boys skillfully played a beautiful guitar like instrument he had made, each talked about his life and the importance of education. Education is seen by so many as the main hope of some day being able to return and make a difference in the life and future of their country.
One young father soon to be resettled to the US, spoke with such hope that one day his two daughters would use their upcoming US education to go back and make a positive difference in Africa.
Sport has an incredibly important part to play in the lives of children in the camps. It was only during the soccer and the basketball games that the group I was with almost became invisible as the children focused on the game they were either in, or playing.
There was the young father of two girls who talked sadly about the loss of his father and brother in Darfur, and it was painful to see his sadness and loneliness. On my final day in the South of Chad I met with a group of mothers who had only just arrived in the UNHCR camp, so many of them had fled after their husbands had been killed in the Central African Republic.
I share with you four brief observations.
UNHCR is at the forefront of the humanitarian efforts in Chad, effectively reaching parts of the country that very few other agencies have a presence in.
Chad is a complex situation, with no simple protection formulas or durable solutions, yet UNHCR is clearly grappling with this and has developed some innovative and effective responses.
UNHCR staff live in incredibly difficult situations, in basic conditions, often extremely isolated and they work incredibly long hours.
I became increasingly aware, in the course of this brief mission, of the many millions of lives that have been saved and protected over the past 59 years thanks to the work of UNHCR. In visiting these camps, I was overwhelmed by the fact that although the number of displaced people can sometimes appear so vast, each is a very real person with his or her own story of both tragedy and hopes and dreams.
UNHCR is an organization I am incredibly proud to be part of.
The support we provide for UNHCR’s work on humanity’s front-lines is vitally important. To donate in Canada go to www.unhcr.ca
Greg Millar
Senior Regional Private Sector Fund-Raising Officer (Americas)
How is the UN Refugee Agency saving lives?
The agency is working around the clock:
- Providing critically needed protection, shelter, clean water, education, and medical attention to refugees, especially children.
- Maintaining 12 refugee camps in eastern Chad, which include family shelters, clinics, schools, and wells.
- Developing 30 women centres to counsel and treat victims of sexual violence.
- Providing special protection for children through youth centres.
UNHCR is the only agency with the world mandate to protect refugees and provide durable solutions for their plight.
Facts and Figures
- More than 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
- Over 200,000 innocent people have been killed – massacred, raped, or become victims of disease.
- Nearly 60 percent of Darfur’s victims are innocent children.
- Another 240,000 refugees have fled to nearby Chad.
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