Situation worsening, says chief peacekeeper

The violence in Darfur has intensified in recent months with attacks on humanitarian workers and peacekeepers and a growing number of displaced persons sheltering in makeshift camps, Alain LeRoy, head of UN peacekeeping, has told the Security Council.

Inter-tribal clashes and fighting between government troops and armed militia have only worsened the situation, Mr LeRoy, Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said.

He said an estimated 300,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted in 2003 between government forces, allied militiamen — known as the Janjaweed — and rebels, and 2.7 million others have been displaced.

Almost one year after transferring the task of quelling the violence in Darfur to the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission known as Unamid, Mr LeRoy said that while some progress has been made, “it has been much too slow in providing real improvement for the ordinary citizens on the ground and inadequate in resolving the Darfur crisis.”

He said that millions remain in internally displaced persons camps, dependent on lifesaving humanitarian assistance and “over the past six months alone, an additional 100,000 people have been displaced.”

The security situation for the IDPs worsens year after year and remains volatile, said Mr LeRoy.

“In the first year of its operation, Unamid lost 21 personnel. Most recently, on October 29, a peacekeeper was killed and another was injured after being attacked while guarding a water-point near the Kassab IDP camp in North Darfur,” he said.

Some 41 men and three children were killed, while seven women were raped in seven separate inter-tribal clashes in October alone. The gunmen also burned a large amount of cultivated land and looted livestock.

“Just last week, in two separate incidents, tribal clashes in South Darfur claimed another 75 lives, including Sudanese police officers who tried to intervene.”

Unamid also confirmed reports of aerial bombardments and persistent clashes between the government and armed rebel forces despite Sudan’s unilateral declaration of a ceasefire on November 12.

“The government should honour its commitment to the cessation of hostilities,” said Mr LeRoy.

Amid the violence, the UN-AU operation has focused on the protection of civilians, but is hampered by a severely under-deployed force.

“Over the past year, the frequency of the mission’s patrols has increased, in order to facilitate humanitarian access and provide convoy protection, but also as a confidence-building measure and to investigate security incidents,” said the Undersecretary-General.

Earlier in the month, Unamid averted a major crisis following clashes between nomads and IDPs in the Hassa Hissa camp in West Darfur by intervening with camp leadership and local sheikhs to stabilise the situation, and deploying troops to the area to prevent the confrontation from escalating.

Mr LeRoy stressed, “As its numbers and capabilities increase, the Mission will be able to do much more of this good work. In this context, we will work with member states to fill key gaps in the mission’s force composition.”