Saturday, August 07, 2010

Sudan denies aid agencies access to Darfur camp

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudanese authorities have denied the U.N.'s humanitarian arm access to a Darfur refugee camp after an outbreak of violence, a U.N. spokesman said Friday.

Kalma camp is home to around 100,000 of the more than 2.5 million people displaced by fighting in the large region of western Sudan since 2003.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesman Samuel Hendricks said at least five people have died and thousands have fled the camp since demonstrations protesting peace talks turned deadly a week ago.

He said 5,000 people from the camp gathered for protection at a nearby community policing station, and many hundreds remain displaced inside the facility.

Talks were under way to persuade authorities to allow the agencies to go in and distribute aid, he said.

"All we can do is keep talking to authorities," Hendricks told the Associated Press.

He said that other humanitarian agencies have tried to get into the Kalma camp but failed. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

No comments: