THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN NORTH DARFUR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000436 DEPT FOR S/PES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/C, IO, PRM NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN, USAID/W DCHA SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE AIDAC SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ASEC PGOV PREL PREF KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN NORTH DARFUR REF: A) KHARTOUM 421 B) KHARTOUM 405 C) KHARTOUM 318 D) KHARTOUM 313 E) KHARTOUM 311 F) KHARTOUM 306 G) KHARTOUM 299 --- --- SUMMARY --- --- ¶1. (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY. On March 23-24, U.S. Embassy and USAID staff met with staff from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in El Fasher and attended the state-level Interagency Management Group (IAMG) meeting in North Darfur chaired by OCHA to discuss the current situation, existing humanitarian gaps, and potential challenges of the weeks and months to come. INGO staff also summarized a letter addressed to the UN, requesting additional UN advocacy and assistance to address the current situation and facilitate continued work by humanitarian partners. END SUMMARY. -------------- THE SITUATION: BAD AND GETTING WORSE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On March 23 and 24, Embassy DCM and USAID Officer met with the OCHA North Darfur Head of Office Gregory "Gromo" Alex and attended the state-level IAMG in North Darfur. Noting the release of the joint UN-Government of National Unity (GNU) joint assessment, participants commented that the results were perhaps more positive than initially expected, but gaps exist nonetheless. Indeed, humanitarian partners noted that gaps already are becoming obvious in many areas of North Darfur. One of the most glaring is simply the absence of international staff throughout Darfur. Aside from International Committee of the Red Cross staff, all other international staff in North Darfur currently are now located in El Fasher town. Other locations throughout the state are beginning to feel the impact: Shangil Tobayi currently lacks any international staff, although Oxfam-US supports a local project operation with a small amount of funding, and sanitation is already a major concern compounded by IDPs fleeing from Muhajeria. With ongoing concerns about adequate water, humanitarian staff worry that the water and sanitation situation will only deteriorate further. According to local sources, Kutum also has gaps in sanitation services. ¶3. (SBU) One of the most critical situations in North Darfur in terms of serious gaps is at Zam Zam internally displaced persons (IDP) camp. As of March 23, approximately 40,000 individuals have reportedly arrived in Zam Zam since mid-January, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). (NOTE: IOM collects information from IDP leaders and new arrival interviews and had not yet verified the count, in part because the camp was still open and as a result, individuals continued to arrive. END NOTE.) The earliest new arrivals were mainly women and children coming by trucks fleeing conflict in Muhajeria and Shearia towns, South Darfur, due to a change in rule there after the JEM rebel attack in January 2009. The more recent arrivals include men and boys arriving on foot with livestock to join these women and children who had fled Muhajeria earlier. Others (most likely the minority) may be coming from other locations specifically seeking humanitarian assistance at the established camp. Currently, aid agencies report that between 200 and 500 individuals arrive at the camp each day, a decrease from the height of 1,000 individuals per day. Due to the continuing influx, IOM has been unable to verify the status of the recent arrivals, a step required for the UN World Food Program (WFP) to distribute food rations. (NOTE: WFP conducted a food distribution for 15,000 new arrivals on February 25 and plans to conduct a two-month ration distribution, but it cannot proceed until IOM verifies the IDP numbers. END NOTE.) ¶4. (SBU) Although designed to host 65,000 individuals, Zam Zam camp currently holds between 90,000 and 95,000 individuals, according to UN estimates. The recent expulsions of international non-government organization (INGO) aid workers from Zam Zam further aggravates an already dire situation for those living in the camp's new extension. Although humanitarian agencies have been lobbying the GNU since February to identify alternative sites for IDPs and to divert new arrivals or relocate current populations, the Sudanese government has not identified a new site to relocate IDPs in the overcrowded camp. ¶5. (SBU) At the March 23 Zam Zam task force meeting, participants KHARTOUM 00000436 002 OF 003 requested that IAMG appeal to the international community to further intensify the pressure on the GNU to allocate a new site for the relocation of new arrivals by issuing a statement that the camp is unable to hold more than 10,000 new arrivals due to very restricted water resources available. The solution is not to make more services available to nearly 40,000 individuals crowded on a barren patch of land designed for 10,000, but for the GNU to identify a new plot of land that can accommodate 30,000 to 40,000 IDPs (the regime refuses because it wants no new IDP camps in Darfur). If humanitarian agencies augment services at the already-overcrowded camp, people will stay, and the problems that overcrowding breeds will increase dramatically. The UN plans to continue to liaise with the GNU, and ultimately may request that the GNU make additional land available for the IDPs, or else humanitarian agencies as well as the government and town residents will be faced with a major water shortage. ¶6. (SBU) Humanitarian partners underscore several reasons for not allowing new IDPs to settle in the camp and relocating some of the area's latest arrivals, including protection, water, and compensation and tension concerns. Originally, Zam Zam camp was identified as a refuge to offer fleeing IDPs protection from fighting. Several months later, the residents of El Fasher locality now find themselves in a hazardous situation due to the growing camp population and its impact on the local environment, especially the availability of water. In 2008, El Fasher Lake dried up two months earlier than normal for reasons that include the increased international presence in El Fasher town (which uses much more water than Sudanese do) and increased strain on the water resources. Now with a larger and increasing IDP population, it is predicted the water will be depleted even more rapidly. ¶7. (SBU) The original extension of Zam Zam camp anticipated 10,000 new individuals arriving from early 2008 through October 2008. Negotiations between the international community and local farmers on a compensation agreement for surrounding land have reached a stalemate. (NOTE: Approximately one year ago, local government authorities instructed the international community to negotiate with the farmers directly. END NOTE.) Due to the significant influx between January and March 2009, the land negotiated previously is no longer adequate and new arrivals are settling outside the extended camp border. Settling on the private land has increased tensions between IDPs and the local community and raised protection concerns. ¶8. (SBU) Humanitarian staff note that to date Zam Zam has adequate service provision and no reported increase in morbidity or mortality. Humanitarian agencies are concerned about a lack of local expertise to maintain the water distribution system established by Oxfam, one of the expelled NGOs. Moreover, agencies note that increased demand is straining local water resources and lowering the local water table. Humanitarian agencies anticipate demands on water could potentially deplete water sources in IDP camps nearby El Fasher and in El Fasher city within two months. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) plans to complete a total of 20 new boreholes in the extension site. As of March 19, 17 were drilled (14 hand pumps and three motorized pumps,) and three remained to be drilled. ¶9. (SBU) Although reports indicate that a new health clinic located in the extension areas was operational as of March 23, local partners reported that a minor problem had delayed the opening of an additional clinic supported by UNICEF, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health-supported clinic. However, a WHO representative assured the IAMG members that the latter clinic would open on March 25. In addition, Relief International's (RI) health clinic has experienced increased caseloads, but staff cannot access medicine stored in a warehouse in El Fasher. To date, the medicine has languished in the warehouse for five months, due to the GNU's refusal to release it. NGO staff report that every time RI completes the requested government steps to have the drugs released, the GNU adds another requirement. Although the GNU claims that it must test the supplies, health partners note that the delay increases chances that the dates of expiration for these medicines will pass unless they are released soon. Should this happen, the IDPs will not receive them. WHO agreed to provide RI with emergency drugs to fill the gap, but OCHA emphasized that WHO cannot provide the drugs long-term, and as the sector lead, WHO should be advocating for the clearance and release of the medicines in the warehouse with the GNU. -------------- THE NGOS REACH OUT TO THE UN -------------- KHARTOUM 00000436 003 OF 003 ¶10. (SBU) According to the UN, although the remaining INGOs are committed to assisting the populations in need, those that are working in North Darfur have written a letter to the UN that delineates the criteria to establish a safe working environment requested by the INGOs. The latter view such conditions as essential if they are to continue working and assisting North Darfur's affected populations. The letter is an internal document that the INGOs had presented to the UN only. In coming days, the INGOs plan to meet and discuss the contents with Deputy North Darfur Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer before releasing a copy of the letter. Essentially, the letter requests the provision of a safe working environment and asks what the UN has done or can do to encourage GNU assurances, what protections can be offered to INGO staff, and what progress and/or assurances have been made to counter bureaucratic impediments. Finally, the INGO representatives underscored that following the mid-March kidnapping of 3 Medecins Sans Frontiers-Belgium (MSF) international staff (Note: these workers were subsequently released,) some of the remaining INGOs are just "one event away" from departing if there is another such security incident. OCHA Head of Office Alex agreed to follow up on the INGO statement with the UN, particularly underscoring their needs and concerns. ¶11. (SBU) Although not necessarily related to developments in Darfur since early March, humanitarian staff listed increased incidents of robberies and looting throughout Darfur, including in Al Salam camp, Abu Shouk camp, and in the Kabkabiya area, which as a result, now lacks international staff. According to humanitarian staff, the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) will request increased patrols inside IDP camps; however, UNAMID officials emphasized that protecting humanitarian assets is the responsibility of the GNU and not UNAMID. In addition, UNAMID offered clarification regarding requests for armed escorts, but underscored that armed escorts should be used as a last resort only. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Even before the NGO expulsions in early March, North Darfur had multiple needs and several humanitarian gaps and sectors for humanitarian services. With the significant decrease in humanitarian staff, and the uptick in insecurity and needs, the situation seems destined to continue on a slow downward trajectory. Although discussions on some of the key issues have continued for months, the GNU is once again practicing its frequent games of foot-dragging and show-boating, while the people in the overcrowded, underserved Darfur camps suffer. As noted above, the kidnapping of the MSF staff has left international humanitarian staff feeling further unnerved and vulnerable. The INGO representatives noted that threats to staff security have now reached unacceptable levels. ¶13. (SBU) Despite this, the demand for humanitarian services in North Darfur continues on an upward trajectory. Humanitarian partners stressed that remaining INGOs are already working at or above organizational capacity, and it is becoming increasingly harder to fill gaps. INGO staff said that the current expectations and projections of the Sudanese government are dangerously unrealistic, particularly as INGOs have no technical agreements under which to conduct previous programs - or newly assigned tasks. In order to conduct any operations, the GNU needs to provide signed technical agreements for the humanitarian organizations, a step the GNU recently promised the UN that it would now take. And, perhaps even more importantly for the rattled and frightened aid staff, the GNU needs to begin to build the lost trust that the March expulsions and subsequent harassment have shattered. Finally, if the GNU's vision of nationalizing aid in Sudan continues, humanitarian agencies must begin planning to phase out programs and transfer authority to the GNU. Despite the current plans and GNU demands, INGO partners stated their inability and unwillingness to participate in capacity-building for local NGOs. Rather, the organizations will focus on doing what they do best: providing life-saving assistance in essential sectors until the GNU authorities prevent them from completing that task. FERNANDEZ