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22/11/2004
Darfur refugees to get aid through 2,800km Saharan corridor
Darfur refugees who fled to neighbouring Chad will get UN aid for the first time following the creation of a 2,800km-long relief corridor running through the Sahara desert.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said that it will now send the US-donated relief through Libya destined for 200,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
The conflict in Sudan’s vast western region has seen about 1.7 million people have been displaced. Government-backed Janjaweed militias stand accused of killing and raping thousands of villagers after rebel groups took up arms last year in demand for a greater share of economic resources.
The Libyan government and WFP reached its landmark agreement in August on the corridor, an ancient trading route, guaranteeing safe passage of food aid and other humanitarian supplies through Libya to Chad by air, water and road.
The WFP said it was "very grateful" to the Libyan authorities for setting the corridor up.
Tony Hall, the US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture, said: "The human tragedy unfolding in Darfur and eastern Chad over the past several months has compelled us to respond. This donation will go a substantial way to relieving the suffering of the thousands of people who have been forced not only out of their homes, but out of their country."
Although the rainy season in Chad is over, limited infrastructure and insecurity in one of the remotest regions in the world have made it hard for WFP to move large amounts of food by road to the refugee camps. The corridor through Libya represents a "vital link" for WFP to dramatically increase the amount it can deliver at a substantially reduced cost.
Donated by the US Government, the food includes sorghum, cornmeal, lentils, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend – almost all the commodities needed for the refugees' daily diet over a two-month period.
Its arrival is particularly welcome because conflict in eastern Chad between refugees and the local population has intensified recently. Fights over access to scarce resources such as water and firewood have resulted in deaths.
(gmcg/sp)
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said that it will now send the US-donated relief through Libya destined for 200,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
The conflict in Sudan’s vast western region has seen about 1.7 million people have been displaced. Government-backed Janjaweed militias stand accused of killing and raping thousands of villagers after rebel groups took up arms last year in demand for a greater share of economic resources.
The Libyan government and WFP reached its landmark agreement in August on the corridor, an ancient trading route, guaranteeing safe passage of food aid and other humanitarian supplies through Libya to Chad by air, water and road.
The WFP said it was "very grateful" to the Libyan authorities for setting the corridor up.
Tony Hall, the US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture, said: "The human tragedy unfolding in Darfur and eastern Chad over the past several months has compelled us to respond. This donation will go a substantial way to relieving the suffering of the thousands of people who have been forced not only out of their homes, but out of their country."
Although the rainy season in Chad is over, limited infrastructure and insecurity in one of the remotest regions in the world have made it hard for WFP to move large amounts of food by road to the refugee camps. The corridor through Libya represents a "vital link" for WFP to dramatically increase the amount it can deliver at a substantially reduced cost.
Donated by the US Government, the food includes sorghum, cornmeal, lentils, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend – almost all the commodities needed for the refugees' daily diet over a two-month period.
Its arrival is particularly welcome because conflict in eastern Chad between refugees and the local population has intensified recently. Fights over access to scarce resources such as water and firewood have resulted in deaths.
(gmcg/sp)
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