Sudan No 1/98
Geneva, February 6, 1998
Attached please find a press release from New Sudan Council of Churches
concerning the Sudan government's ban on relief flights to parts of Southern
Sudan. The ban includes areas severely affected by fighting between government
troops and forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Front (SPLA).
Fighting in Sudan's more than 14 year long civil war has flared up over the last weeks. From around towns like Wau, Aweil and Gogrial in Barh al Ghazal more than 90,000 people are said to have taken to the bush and scrub lands for safety while fighting for control of the towns continue between the government army and the SPLA. WFP-OLS air drops of food to these displaced had hardly started when they had to be canceled February 4, because of the ban on relief flights by the government of Sudan.
Fighting has also been reported to the far east, not far from Kassala on the Eritrean border, but from this part of Sudan there has so far been no reports of major population movements.
The ACT Coordination Office is in touch with ACT members in the region and they are monitoring the situation. So far there are no concrete plans for humanitarian actions by the ACT Network. Air drops seem the best option for delivering timely assistance to the displaced of Bahr al Ghazal as fighting and poor roads and tracks make overland delivery unlikely to succeed.
For further details and NSCC's suggestion on advocacy actions please see the attached press release.
For further information please contact:
ACT Communications Officer, Nils Carstensen (phone +41 22 791 6039 or mobile phone +41 079 358 3171).
Nairobi, February 5, 1998
A major humanitarian disaster is unfolding in the Southern Sudan region
of Bahr el Ghazal and we are appealing to the international community to
put pressure on the Government of Sudan (GOS) to allow Operation Lifeline
Sudan (OLS) and other NGOs to fly in food aid to that region. We believe
the decision of the GOS to ban all relief flights to Bahr el Ghazal on
4th February is unjustified and is in violation of international law and
other Geneva Conventions relating to the rights of civilians to humanitarian
assistance.
According to our member churches on the ground, 22 people, majority of whom are children and the elderly, have already died of hunger, and over 90,000 have been forced from their homes due to the fierce fighting going on between GOS and SPLA forces in and around the Southern Sudan second largest town of Wau.
Reports from our field officers speak of a possible re-run of 1986 when half a million southern Sudanese were consumed by hunger as a result of GOS food denial policy. In the area of Mapel alone, more than 45,000 displaced people are on the move, and thousands of others are reported to be roaming in the bushes in search of wild fruits and shelter.
We call on the international community to take bold and decisive action, which combine stronger political pressure and more effective legal safeguards to the humanitarian situation in the south. More pressure should be exerted on the government to reverse its decision, and allow OLS and other humanitarian agencies to airlift relief food to the affected civilians.
New Sudan Council of Churches
Nairobi, Kenya
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