Sudan allows 4 expelled aid groups back

The Sudanese government is allowing four aid organizations expelled from the country after its president was accused of war crimes to return under slightly different names, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Thursday. Sudan ordered 13 of the largest international aid groups to leave the country in early March, accusing them of cooperating and giving false testimony to the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict. The aid groups deny the accusations. John Holmes, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs who visited Sudan last month, welcomed the government's public statements that it values help from international agencies and that new groups, including organizations with new names and logos, can work in the country. "We continue to believe the expulsions unjustified, and the easiest thing is to reverse them," he said. "Nevertheless, we have made some good progress with the government, trying to create a more positive atmosphere." Four of the expelled aid groups have applied for new registration under slightly different names and been allowed back in, he said. "I think the same possibility is open to others." Holmes said CARE, Save The Children, and Mercy Corps will be resuming their humanitarian work in Darfur and PADCO will resume its work in three areas along Sudan's disputed north-south border, all with somewhat different names. He did not say how their names had been changed. "It remains to be seen how quickly they can restart their operations," Holmes said, since they may have lost assets and some of their staff members may have moved on to other jobs. Holmes said three Sudanese aid groups are appealing their closure by the government in court. According to the U.N., Sudan's expulsion removed 40 percent of the aid workers in Darfur, roughly 6,500 national and international staff members, and created a huge gap in the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to some 4.7 million people in Darfur and tens of thousands more elsewhere. Immediately after the expulsions, Holmes said, some NGO staffers were reportedly attacked, and the national media waged a negative campaign that put agencies and individuals at risk. Holmes said "critical life-saving gaps" have been partly filled but aid levels in some areas remain well below U.N. standards, sanitation services in some camps have been significantly reduced, and the U.N. and other agencies have not yet been able to fill gaps created in education and reproductive health services. "We have managed, for now at least, to avert another humanitarian disaster–another extra humanitarian disaster in Darfur, which is of course welcome," Holmes said. "But the risks are still there, particularly in the rainy season, and with the hunger gap season which is also upon us. We need to be very vigilant ... and make sure the live-saving gaps are filled." He expressed hope that the four NGOs allowed to return will be able to start work shortly. The war in Darfur began in 2003 when rebel groups took up arms against the government, complaining of discrimination and neglect. U.N. officials say up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes, with many now living in camps. Holmes also traveled to southern Sudan to assess the impact of tribal violence in Jonglei State, where he said he was "shocked not only by the unprecedentedly destructive nature of this violence but also by the humanitarian toll." In the town of Akobo, he said he was told of entire villages in the surrounding area that were destroyed, partly from the proliferation of more powerful weapons including rocket propelled grenades. "With around 30,000 displaced and possibly more than 1,000 killed or taken prisoner, including women and children, tribal reconciliation and disarmament must be a high priority for the government of South Sudan, and indeed for the international community," Holmes said. He warned that tribal fighting could threaten progress since a 2005 peace agreement ended a two-decade civil war between ethnic African southerners and Sudan's Arab-dominated government in the northern capital Khartoum.