CODEL HEARS IDP PROBLEMS AT DARFUR'S ZAM ZAM IDP CAMP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000970 NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PHUM PGOV KPKO SOCI AU SU SUBJECT: CODEL HEARS IDP PROBLEMS AT DARFUR'S ZAM ZAM IDP CAMP REFTEL: A) KHARTOUM 383, B) KHARTOUM 507 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Congressman Keith Ellison traveled to El Fasher, North Darfur on August 6 to visit the Zam Zam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. Conditions at the camp have deteriorated following an influx of 30,000 IDPs from South Darfur in February and the expulsion of humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in March. North Darfur Assistant Governor Idriss Hassan told the Congressman his government cannot meet the needs of returnees, and asked for assistance. UN African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) troop deployment is currently at 71 percent and will reach 96 percent by year end. The Government of Sudan has delayed visas for 50 top Western military officers, leaving UNAMID with only four experienced Western officers; UN officials asked the United States to intervene. Delays in the deployment of two Formed Police Units (FPUs) has left only one FPU available to patrol three large camps with IDPs totaling more than 140,000. END SUMMARY. Governor Asks Help with Returns -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Congressman Keith Ellison, Charge' d'Affcires (CDA) and accompanying delegation met Assistant Governor (Wali) of North Darfur, Idriss Abdalla Hassan in the Wali's offices in El Fasher on August 6. Hassan thanked the delegation for their visit, which he viewed as a sign of improvement in the "special relationship" between Sudan and the United States. Security in North Darfur has improved dramatically in the last year, Hassan said, the result of diminishing friction between the Darfuri rebels and the Government of Sudan (GOS),and reestablishment of the social fabric in North Darfur. The Wali's office is cooperating with UNAMID and the NGOs operating in North Darfur, which Hassan called a positive development for all partners. Hassan told the Congressman that while El Fasher-based IDPs are eager to return home, assistance is needed to support their returns, reconstruct their former homes, and develop the local agrarian economies upon which most IDPs formerly depended. Hassan cited a recent figure of 1,127 IDPs who had returned recently from North Darfur to Haskanita, South Darfur, but admitted that the GOS was ill-equipped to fully assist them. "The government gave them necessities, but what we have is not enough," Hassan said. "When we conclude it is beyond our capacity, then we need external support." Zam Zam Conditions Deteriorating -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Escorted by UNAMID police and Rwandan peacekeepers, Congressman Ellison, CDA and accompanying delegation traveled 17 kilometers southwest of El Fasher to Zam Zam IDP camp. Home to over 100,000 Zaghawa IDPs, Zam Zam once hosted large-scale USAID-funded relief projects through partners CHF International and International Rescue Committee, both of which were expelled in March. Representatives from Relief International (RI) in North Darfur told Congressman Ellison that RI is working to fill the gap left by the expulsion of the NGOs in March 2009, but the need for large-scale emergency humanitarian relief is growing. Conditions in the camp are deteriorating, the RI representative said. ¶4. (U) Visiting the location of the former CHF clinic in Zam Zam, Congressman Ellison was greeted by young Darfuri students who had crowded to the location after GOS authorities converted the straw-walled structures into a school. Amid the heavy stench of untreated sewage, teachers and students all pleaded for more assistance to the location, saying it lacked teachers, books, classroom materials and transportation. Badr Ishaq, a former administrator for CHF who has spent four years running the clinic in Zam Zam, added that conditions at the school are not optimal for learning. "We need CHF," he told Congressman Ellison. ¶5. (SBU) Zam Zam IDP leaders, including Zam Zam Umda (chief leader), Adam Omar Ahmed, detailed the deterioration of services within the camp since the arrival in February of up to 30,000 new IDPs fleeing conflict in South Darfur, followed closely by the expulsion of CHF, IRC and Oxfam UK from the camp in March. Umda Ahmed and other leaders asked the U.S. to further press the GOS on increasing humanitarian aid to the camp. The Umda told the delegation, "We are completely dependent on the international community." Zahar Mansour, the appointed speaker for the young women among the recent arrivals to Zam Zam, said that the situation is particularly difficult for women in the camps. Citing the scarcity of water and lack of medical facilities, she told Congressman Ellison, "Our suffering is your responsibility." "No one is speaking on our behalf except Allah and the international community," a young man told the Congressman. UNAMID Deployment at 71 Percent KHARTOUM 00000970 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Meeting at UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher, Darfur, AU-UN Joint Special Representative (JSR) Rodolphe Adada told the delegation that UNAMID peacekeeping troop deployment stands at 13,938 troops, 71 percent of the total allowed under its mandate. JSR Adada expects steady progress on military deployment until the end of the year, when the total should reach 96 percent of 19,630 total peacekeeping troops. The end of Darfur's rainy season in September will bring with it increased mobility for UNAMID troops, but slow movement of contingent-owned equipment (COE) from source countries delays deployment to points far afield in Darfur. Colonel Noddy Stafford, Chief of J5 plans, suggested that the United States can assist by providing airlifts for COE from Port Sudan to El Fasher and Nyala. GOS Refusal to Grant Visas Serious Problem for UNAMID -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Adada called the GOS's refusal to grant visas to experienced Western military officers a "serious problem." UNAMID currently projects that by the end of August this year, only four Western officers will remain with the mission, two from(Italy, one from Germany and one from the UK. "The GOS is limiting visas to sensitive nationalities," Adada said, and urged the United States to raise the issue in discussions with the Sudanese. Adada said that the current wait list for senior Western officers now includes over 50 officers, but that does not take into account countries such as France that have stopped sending officers to UNAMID due to the delay. Police Units Deployments Delayed -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Elizabeth Muwanga, UNAMID Deputy Police Commander and Officer in Charge of UNAMID's substantial contingent of Formed Police Units (FPUs),told the delegation that while UNAMID's military deployment continues apace, UNAMID is facing a shortage of FPUs. Tasked to patrol the IDP camps and coordinate with the GOS police to develop community policing centers, the FPUs are under deployed and under equipped for the task of policing among Darfur's 2.7 million IDPs. Muwanga asked that contributing countries send more female police officers and policing equipment. She also requested that the international community address delays in the deployment of FPUs. Police Colonel Johni Asadoma, leader of the Indonesian Formed Police Unit (FPU) that escorted the delegation on August 6, noted that his contingent was also under equipped and spread too thin. According to Asadoma, ideally, El Fasher's three IDP camps would be patrolled by one FPU each, but delays in deployment have hamstrung the Egyptian and Jordanian FPUs meant for the other camps. For that reason, the 140-man Indonesian force has to patrol Zam Zam, Abu Shouk and Al Salaam IDP camps, a total population of around 140,000 IDPs. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: Thanks to the GOS's recent affection for U.S. Congressional delegations, Rep. Ellison's visit to Darfur proceeded smoothly. Local authorities permitted the delegation to access honest perspectives from a wide variety of parties on the ground in El Fasher. Zam Zam IDPs would agree with the Assistant Wali's assessment of GOS capacities in Darfur: the GOS cannot handle the humanitarian effort on its own. For example, piecemeal GOS attempts to return educational services to Zam Zam have resulted in one underfunded school in a camp that once hosted 20 functioning IRC kindergartens (ref B). UNAMID's struggles to deploy fully are well-known, but significant progress will have been achieved by the end of this year. Post agrees with the assessment by JSR Adada that the refusal to issue visas to Western officers is a "serious problem," and his newfound honesty may reflect the fact that Adada is due to depart the mission within a few months. Post will continue to follow the FPUs closely, as they bear the responsibility for bringing 24/7 security to the camps. END COMMENT. WHITEHEAD