News Article by IRIN posted on October 03, 2003 at 14:58:55: EST (-5 GMT)
Widespread insecurity in Darfur despite ceasefire
NAIROBI, Oct 03, 2003 (IRIN) -- About 300,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in Darfur's three states since August, as a result of widespread burning, looting and killing in their villages by Arab militias, humanitarian sources said on Friday.
The "conservative estimate" of 300,000 is in addition to some 200,000 in south Darfur who were displaced by drought and conflict before the militia attacks escalated in March, the UN Area Coordinator for Western Sudan told IRIN. There are no reliable figures for the numbers killed.
The conflict pits farming communities against nomads who have aligned themselves with the militia groups - for whom the raids are a way of life - in stiff competition for land and resources. The militias, known as the Janjaweed, attack in large numbers on horseback and camels and are driving the farmers from their land, often pushing them towards town centres.
In south Darfur, an assessment conducted in late September found that of 62 villages, 46 had been "completely burned to ashes" while the rest had been looted. More attacks have taken place since then, according to local sources.
Aid workers have not been allowed to access some of the displaced people, while those who have been reached are camped under trees with no food, water or any form of shelter, the NGO Oxfam said. Schools are also filling up with displaced people and pushing out local children. Locals have given the displaced some food and shelter but are reeling from drought and food shortages themselves.
In north Darfur, 20 percent of villages have been burned and looted, resulting in about 150,000 displaced people, with large numbers fleeing towards the towns of Kebkabiya (38,000) and Korma (over 39,000), according to the UN. In Kebkabiya, over 58 percent of children under five were recently found to be malnourished, 41 of whom died.
And in west Darfur about 75,000 people have been displaced - 45,000 of whom have congregated around the town of Mukjar. A further 65,000 from all three states have fled to neighbouring Chad.
The UN said militia attacks were continuing in the west and south, but north Darfur had been relatively quiet for the last two weeks.
Despite the ongoing attacks, humanitarian access to the region has improved significantly since a ceasefire agreement was signed on 6 September between the government and rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the UN added.
However some areas hosting the displaced remain inaccessible or difficult to access because of a complicated system requiring travel permits.
Before the September ceasefire accord, the government had stopped issuing travel permits to most areas in the region - which has a population of about 5 million - effectively cutting them off from any assistance or outside monitoring of the attacks.
Human rights groups have accused the government of supporting the militias, charges it denies although it has committed itself to controlling them.
Regional analysts say those backing and arming the militias appear to have lost control over them.