The U.S. State Department asserts that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will be responsible for every death that will occur after the Khartoum government kicked out foreign aid groups this month.
U.S. diplomats reported that conditions are worsening in the refugee camps that have been accommodating thousands of displaced people from the Darfur region. U.S. and the international community have urged the Sudanese government to reverse its decision of expelling 13 humanitarian aid groups.
U.S. diplomats and representatives of the U.S. Agency for International Development traveled last week to El Fasher in northern Darfur to visit the Zam Zam refugee camp and assess the impact of expulsions. “This crisis has been exacerbated by the expulsions in March,” said the State Department, basing the analysis on details provided by the earlier observation visit.
Diplomats noted that resources in Zam Zam, including water, have been reduced by the recent arrival of 36,000 people who fled from the clashes in the past two months between armed groups and the Sudanese government.
The conflict in Darfur that has displaced more than 2.7 million people erupted when rebels, mostly non-Arabs, rebelled against the government in 2003. According to international experts, it is estimated that more than 300,000 people have died in the western Sudanese region. On the other hand, the government of Bashir said that there are 10,000 people who have lost their lives.
Darfur has been one of the darkest corners on earth. For the ethnic cleansing that has been implemented in the region over the last six years, Omar al-Bashir is the first serving head-of-state indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Expelling international humanitarian groups was a firm threat that Bashir gave when the ICC issued his arrest warrant which he and his government have simply ignored.
Via guardian.co.uk
