Aid Agencies Warn of Danger in Darfur

Aid agencies including World Vision and Oxfam International warned today that the enormous humanitarian response in Darfur is in the danger of soon being paralysed.

They have called on African and global leaders at the AU Summit to take urgent action to end rising violence against civilians and aid workers.

African leaders and the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will fail the people of Darfur if they do not ensure an immediate ceasefire that is both agreed and adhered to, they warned.

The six agencies, Action Against Hunger, CARE International, Oxfam International, Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision and Save the Children, said aid workers are facing violence on a scale not seen before in Darfur, leaving access to people in need at the conflict's lowest point at a time when the humanitarian need is greater than ever.

Attacks on civilians are again rising and forcing even more people to flee their homes, and a breakdown of the aid response will leave millions in even greater danger. The worsening four-year-old crisis must not be allowed to deteriorate any further.

"The conflict has dragged on far too long and is now worse than it's ever been. To wait any longer puts hundreds of thousands of lives in danger and risks a total breakdown of the entire humanitarian response. Today must be the time the African Union, the UN and the international community says enough is enough," said Irũngũ Houghton, Pan Africa Policy Advisor for Oxfam in Addis for the Summit.

Fresh fighting in January has left more than 350 people dead and forced tens of thousands more from their homes, while splits in the rebel movements and a widespread lack of accountability have left Darfur increasingly lawless, leading to the direct targeting of aid workers. The violence has spread throughout Darfur and crossed the border into Chad. Even major towns and cities are now plagued with violence and have seen fighting and hijackings on the streets.

More than a month after an attack on aid workers in Gereida - the most violent of the conflict so far, which saw staff raped, beaten and subjected to mock executions - it is still far too dangerous for agencies to return to the camp, the world's largest for displaced people, where 130,000 have sought refuge from attacks on their villages.

Temporary evacuations of staff from other locations across Darfur have continued, with nearly 500 aid workers withdrawn since the start of December. In early January, the UN warned that malnutrition rates are again rising close to emergency levels. Progress made in stabilising conditions over the past four years is in serious danger of being reversed.