Talk:UN aid convoys face increasing attacks in Darfur

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This article is on Digg.com. Help make it popular. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 05:09, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

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Wikinews user Jcart1534 wrote to Jennifer Parmelee, Public Affairs Officer with WFP in Washington D.C. for clarification and/or further detail on the WFP [news release] of July 25, 2007.

Questions from Wikinews

• Why do you think the number of attacks on the convoys have increased so dramatically in the past couple of weeks?

• The attacks are not a new phenomenon, have authorities in Darfur (Sudan) assisted the WFP workers over the past year?

• If the proposed AU-UN hybrid force of 26,000 troops gets deployed to Darfur, do you have any reason to be hopeful that the security situation might be improved for WFP and other aid workers?

• The road between Nyala and Kass has been declared a “no-go” area for UN staff. If the attacks continue at the current levels, is there a risk that other areas, with access currently, could be jeopardized?

• Has the WFP encountered difficulty in hiring or retaining commercial truck companies due to the convoy attacks?

Answers from WFP

Dear Jcart1534, I am afraid I can't answer all your questions - like "why" there have been escalating attacks lately. I've asked my colleague in Sudan, Emilia Casella, to take a crack but my guess is she'd be speculating on an answer to that question too (prob better answered by a political analyst).

Here's what we can say:

As to impact on our operations, increasing insecurity will almost certainly further constrain our ability to operate in Darfur - it already has.

I've taken the liberty of attaching Emilia's talking points/clarifications on press release, which adds details on the impact and nature of the attacks to date (see figures on number of beneficiaries affected).

And yes, sure an expanded AU/UN peacekeeping force would help. As it is, AU is stretched very very thin, and as you can see from below, is unable to accompany most of our convoys.

I can't answer about increased difficulty hiring trucks, but it's more than likely. I know hiring (reliable) transport in other insecure environments - Afghanistan, Somalia - is extremely challenging.

Talking points and clarification from WFP on news release

From: Emilia Casella, WFP Spokesperson for Sudan TPs/Q&A on Darfur Press release: July 25, 2007 "Rising Attacks on Food Convoys Undermining WFP Work in Darfur"

Please note, regarding paragraph 5, which reads: So far this year, 18 WFP food convoys have been attacked by gunmen and four of WFP's light vehicles carjacked. Six WFP vehicles, including trucks and light vehicles, have been stolen and 10 staff, including contractors, have been either detained or abducted.

Clarification: This means that 18 convoys have experienced various kinds of attack (being shot at, looted, drivers robbed and/or injured) and four light vehicles have been stopped and their drivers and passengers have been robbed of their belongings. A further six vehicles have been physically stolen and in these cases the bandits got in and drove off with our staff members still inside the vehicles. The staff members were later released. There were no major physical injuries, but naturally such experiences are very traumatic. These incidents have occurred in all three of the Darfurs, in areas controlled by various groups or the government.

Q: Thus, to the question: Who is responsible? A: The attacks and robberies have happened all over Darfur, in areas controlled by various parties. Frequently the bandits are wearing uniforms but often in one group of bandits there may be more than one uniform. Thus, we are not pointing fingers at any one group. We are calling on all parties to respect the neutrality of humanitarian convoys and their drivers, who are delivering food to civilians who are victims of the conflict.

Some examples of recent incidents:

• In the week of July 15-21, there were five incidents in South Darfur, during which a total of seven trucks were looted of approximately 10.5 MT of food assistance.
• On July 20, a convoy traveling on the Tawilla-Kaura road in North Darfur was stopped by 16 armed men. The drivers were forced out of their vehicles and the robbers demanded 5 Sudanese pounds from each (roughly equivalent to $2.50). Those who could not pay were beaten. Similar incidents have happened on the same road in the past two weeks.

Q: Why can't the AU accompany the convoys? A: Food convoys leave WFP locations in Darfur every day. There are 123 WFP-owned trucks (51 DAF + 72 Mercedes) and a further 600 commercial trucks delivering about 40,000 MT of WFP food to Darfur and within Darfur every month. All our convoys are at risk of attack, but the AU does not have the mandate, nor the manpower and equipment to accompany all of them. On occasion, AU escorts are provided, at the request of WFP but it is not a regular occurrence.

Q: What is the impact of this increase in attacks and banditry? A: Our field staff reports that humanitarian access is likely to be increasingly difficult due to insecurity, unless all parties begin to respect the neutrality of WFP and other humanitarian organizations.

Q: How many people have been cut off by this insecurity? A: It is not possible to say how many may not be reached in July (as the month is still not over). Last month, we were unable to reach more than 170,000 people due to insecurity (up from a low this year of 60,000 in March), and the situation does not seem to be improving this month.

However, we have large quantities of food that were pre-positioned all over the area, ahead of the rainy season, meaning that in many areas our staff and NGO cooperating partners can go in by helicopter and conduct food distributions. Despite insecurity and access problems, WFP food assistance reached about 2.6 million people in Darfur last month.

Other data (source: OCHA)

• Fighting has newly displaced approximately 160,000 people since January 2007. (Please note that some people were re-displaced meaning they were already IDPs, and had to move again).
• About 64 humanitarian vehicles were hijacked and 132 humanitarian staff temporarily detained during these incidents, between January 2007 and early July. (Note: WFP has been less affected than many NGOs, whose movements are not as restricted as UN staff).
• Five violent attacks against humanitarian compounds occurred in May '07.
• 11 soldiers from the African Union mission in Darfur have been killed this year, and 12 humanitarian workers were killed in Darfur in 2006.

There are approximately 12,000 humanitarian workers in Darfur (the number is going down, as the need goes up). Most need WFP's Humanitarian Air Service to get to remote locations, as road travel has become too dangerous (also, at this time of year, roads are often washed out by rains). WFPHAS operates six helicopters and nine fixed-wing aircraft in Darfur.