Over a million civilians in the Darfur region of West Sudan have fled from their homes due to the war between rebels and Janjaweed militia. Over 2 million Sudanese refugees have flocked to camp sites. , and emergency aid groups are calling out for more international support.

Christian Charities and Relief Organisations from Britain are supplying water, shelter and sanitation equipment by sending tonnes of cargo on two planes which left earlier this week.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has organised an appeal from 11 charities to raise £27m. Goods have been flown to the camp in Kalma last week. "The situation in Darfur is desperate and Kalma camp urgently needs this aid," said Paul Smith Lomas, the humanitarian director of Oxfam. "This equipment could help us save lives."

Relief supplies have also been flown in by France to eastern Chad, where over 150,000 refugees are gathered. French Defence minister Michele Alliote-Marie, said more needs to be done for the refugees.

After visiting the camp in Chad, she said the camps were quite good and the people were in good sanitary conditions. "But more needs to be done to provide shelter, hygiene and the shortage of helicopters to move the supplies." Due to heavy rain in the Darfur region, it has become difficult to move the supplies by car so they must be flown in by air.

"We need other members of the European Union to step in," Mrs Alliot-Marie said.

According to the United Nations, the US will aid Sudan with an estimated $30m in food aid. The UN says an action plan has been approved by the Sudanese cabinet to help the national crisis. If things go according to plan, the Sudanese army will withdraw from camps, and rebel groups fighting the government will lay down their arms and go to areas which will be supervised by the African Union (AU).



Jenny Lee
Ecumenical Press