UN official pleads for intervention in Sudanese 'crisis'

A UN official on Saturday urged the Sudanese government to do more to end the humanitarian crisis in western Sudan, where a conflict has displaced about 1 million people and killed thousands.

James Morris, the executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, also said more than US$140 million was needed to meet humanitarian needs in Darfur.

Morris and a UN team he headed on Friday ended a three-day tour of Darfur's crisis hit three states, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from homes by fighting between rebels into nearby cities, dry river beds and across the border into neighboring Chad.

"This is surely one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world," Morris said during a press conference in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. He is expected to submit a report of his findings to Sudanese authorities and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Morris said the situation in Darfur "will worsen dramatically" if security is not improved in the area and humanitarian agencies are not provided full access.

The US State Department said on Thursday a 28-member team of American aid experts would be granted visas by Sudan to enter the country and inspect humanitarian needs in Darfur, home to one-fifth of Sudan's 30 million people.

Thousands of people are believed to have died since early 2003 when the rebels took up arms to fight for autonomy and greater state aid in the neglected province. The conflict has also displaced about 900,000 refugees in Darfur's three states. Another 100,000 have fled into neighboring Chad.

During his Darfur tour, Morris met displaced Sudanese, regional and federal officials, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and donors.

Darfur represents a "very serious humanitarian crisis, and that people hope to go home but they needed security and protection," Morris said. He added that the UN and various NGOs are ready to work with Sudanese authorities to address the situation.

"Sudan has to accelerate its efforts to address [and] control armed militias, provide security and protection for displaced people and facilitate humanitarian access,'' the UN team said in a statement issued at the end of its three-day tour.

Morris said displaced families were living in "difficult and unacceptable conditions and ... continue to fear for their lives." His team had also received numerous reports of sexual abuse and harassment.

In Mornei, a Darfur city close to Sudan's border with Chad, Morris said 60,000 displaced people have "overwhelmed" the city and are "almost completely reliant on outside assistance."

Health care in Mornei is "vastly over-stretched, living conditions are abysmal, malnutrition rates among children are soaring and few if any are going to school," he added.

"This pattern appears to be repeated across Darfur."

The UN statement said a humanitarian crisis continued despite the Sudanese government's signing of a ceasefire agreement on April 8 with rebels belonging to the Sudanese Liberation Army.

- Taipei Times