NAIROBI (AlertNet) - A wave of aid worker abductions in Darfur is making the tough job of delivering humanitarian relief to displaced people in Sudan's conflict-torn western region even harder.
Kidnappings of foreigners in Darfur began after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes in March last year.
This week's abduction of three aid workers - one American woman and two Sudanese men - by armed men is the latest in a series over the past year or so.
International agencies whose staff have been kidnapped since March 2009 include Medicins Sans Frontieres, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Goal, Triangle and Aide Medicale Internationale.
Following the expulsion of 13 foreign aid groups last year, some of those that remained or have since returned to Darfur told AlertNet rising insecurity is curtailing aid efforts.
"Whenever aid workers are kidnapped, aid agencies take precautionary measures which include stopping movement of both national and international aid workers, which freezes aid operations," World Vision's Dan Teng'o told AlertNet in a telephone interview.
Teng'o said the inability of most aid agencies to move freely has deprived tens of thousands of Sudanese of much-needed food and medical aid.
Law and order in the harsh desert region is in tatters seven years after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government, accusing it of starving the region of funding and marginalising its population.
The ICRC reduced its relief activities in Darfur last November following the kidnap of two of its expatriate staff in West Darfur and nearby eastern Chad.
Spokeswoman Anna Schaaf said aid groups face major challenges in reaching hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes by the conflict.
"The security situation in Darfur remains precarious which makes it extremely difficult for all humanitarian actors to work in that region," she said.
But she added the ICRC is assessing whether it can restart life-saving activities in some
areas.
PEACEKEEPING MISSION AFFECTED
With fewer agencies operating on the ground since the expulsions, information has partly dried up. The crisis in Darfur has gradually faded from the international media spotlight and become yet another forgotten, complex African conflict.
The United Nations estimates some 300,000 people have died in the humanitarian emergency, with 2 million people driven from their homes. Sudan says the number of deaths is far lower.
A faltering peace process has been set back by recent clashes between Sudan's army and the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
The world's largest U.N.-funded peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) - now at 75 percent of its authorised strength of 26,000 - says its job to secure the remote area is tough in the absence of a peace agreement between Khartoum and the rebels.
A total of 24 UNAMID soldiers and police have been killed in ambushes, car-jackings and other violent incidents since their under-equipped force moved in at the beginning of 2008. Two of the mission's civilian staff were held in captivity for more than 100 days last year.
"We know that this is also a dangerous place for the peacekeepers, but we think they should be facilitated to do more...securing roads and patrolling camps, which can make the environment a lot safer," Oxfam's Alum McDonald told AlertNet.
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