ilovemylife: DOES PRESIDENT OBAMA HAVE ANY MORE THAN MERE WORDS FOR THE DARFUR SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL SITUATION?

WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE

Threatening, empty hope-filled words aren't going to do anything but allow Omar al-Bashir to become bolder and bolder, President Obama.

Email text from Massachusetts Save Darfur Community Activist Leader and Investors Against Genocide leader:

Clinton and now Obama have said:

The Government of Sudan’s disastrous decision to expel humanitarian relief organizations leaves a void that will be filled by deprivation and despair and they will be held accountable for the lives lost.

We know that people have already died because of al-Bashir expelled aid groups. How many more lives have to be lost before our government is acting?
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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Press Release) March 18, 2009

President Obama Announces Major General Scott Gration as U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan

Today, I am pleased to join Secretary Clinton in announcing the appointment of Major General J. Scott Gration as the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan. General Gration’s personal and professional background, and his service to the country as both a military leader and a humanitarian, give him the insights and experience necessary for this assignment.

Sudan is a priority for this Administration, particularly at a time when it cries out for peace and for justice. The worsening humanitarian crisis there makes our task all the more urgent.

I have made clear my intention to work with the international community to end the suffering. That means supporting the full, unobstructed deployment of the joint African Union/United Nations peacekeeping force and the negotiation of a political solution that will give the people of Darfur a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their future. The Government of Sudan’s disastrous decision to expel humanitarian relief organizations leaves a void that will be filled by deprivation and despair and they will be held accountable for the lives lost.

As we work to bring peace to Darfur, we will continue to work with both parties to Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement to ensure its full and complete implementation. All parties must see this through if Sudan and the surrounding region are to enjoy lasting stability.

I have worked closely and directly with General Gration for several years, and have traveled with him to refugee camps in Chad filled with those who were displaced by the genocide in Darfur. He is a valued personal friend and I am pleased he has accepted this assignment. He knows the region, has broad experience, and has my complete confidence. Standing alongside Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice, his appointment is a strong signal of my Administration’s commitment to support the people of Sudan while seeking a lasting settlement to the violence that has claimed so many innocent lives.

Five videos about the Darfur situation
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oTeX8pmEhE
Uploaded March 18, 2009 by AlJazeeraEnglish
Hashem Ahelbarra reports from the rally in the remote village of Sibdu.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RF89RKyAgU
Uploaded March 18, 2009 by NTDTV

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0PioGnX6o
Uploaded March 19, 2009 by EUXTV

A refugee from Darfur in the Djabal refugee camp in Chad talks about reports from family members still in Darfur on new attacks by Janjaweed rebels just a few days after the International Criminal Court issued its arrest-warrant for Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir.

He says some 300 huts were burnt and six people killed in one specific incident. Other refugees in Djabal said their relatives were too afraid to leave for Chad because the roads are controlled by the Janjaweed, and also said they

FIlmed during a EUFOR Tchad/RCA press trip. Interview by Raymond Frenken.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9QkIszkZJY
Uploaded March 18, 2009 by MADarfur

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Aid expulsions spark disease fears in Darfur camps

Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:43pm GMT

Source: www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Aid officials said there were fears of fresh disease outbreaks in two Darfur refugee camps after residents refused to let state-backed aid agencies come in to replace expelled humanitarians.

Sudan expelled 13 foreign aid groups and closed three local organisations this month, accusing them of helping the International Criminal Court build up a war crimes case against the country's president. The groups deny working with the court.

The expulsions sparked international outrage with aid groups warning the closures would have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by the conflict.

Sudanese government aid officials said the expelled groups' work would be covered by remaining international organisations and scores of local groups that authorities were planning to bring into the area.

But aid officials and activists said residents of South Darfur's huge Kalma and Kass camps were refusing aid from state-backed organisations, even though they were running short of medicines, food aid and clean water.

Hussein Abu Sharati, who says he represents displaced Darfuris in 158 camps, said Kalma residents had met and voted to refuse all aid from Sudanese groups. "They don't see these groups as aid organisations, they see them as tools of the government," he told Reuters by satellite phone.

"IDPs (internally displaced people) in Kalma and Kass are refusing all access to the government and local aid groups even if it means receiving less water or a greater risk of disease," said an aid worker from one of the ousted organisations, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The worker said residents had blocked state deliveries of fuel for their own generators, set up to pump fresh water in to the camp, raising the risk of the spread of diseases like cholera. Camp leaders had refused to let Ministry of Health officials vaccinate residents against a meningitis outbreak.

The reports were impossible to verify independently as international journalists have not been able to get travel permits to visit Kalma and surrounding camps in recent days.

Kalma and Kass are home to tens of thousands of people who fled their homes after raids and attacks by government troops and militias during the Darfur conflict.

International experts say almost six years of fighting has uprooted 2.7 million people. Many of the camps that have taken them in have become highly politicised.

Darfur's joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force has said it is ready to do what it can to fill any humanitarian gaps left by the expulsions of the aid agencies.

"UNAMID does not have a mandate for humanitarian assistance. But it is not going to let people die," said Daniel Augstburger, head of the humanitarian sector for the U.N. Mission in Darfur.

Aid workers have been concerned about suggestions the peacekeepers might take on humanitarian work in Sudan.

"Gradually the line between peacekeepers and aid workers gets blurred and then everyone becomes a fair target," said one.

Armed men attacked an UNAIMD patrol in South Darfur this week, killing one Nigerian peacekeeper.

Five workers for the Belgian arm of Medecins Sans Frontieres were kidnapped in North Darfur last week and held for three days by a group that, government officials said, was protesting against the International Criminal Court.

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