Violence cuts aid to 500,000 in Darfur-UN official

from AlertNet

KHARTOUM, July 31 (Reuters) - Attacks and banditry has left some 500,000 needy Darfuris out of reach of the world's largest aid operation in Sudan's remote west, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.

More than 12,000 humanitarian staff in Darfur assist 4.2 million people whose lives have been disrupted by four years of revolt. International experts estimate 200,000 have died in the fighting and from famine and disease.

"We are under attack every day: We have areas where we can't go to, we have hijacks every day, we have aid workers attacked every day," Mike McDonagh, north Sudan manager for the U.N. Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

"In May 2006, the humanitarian community had access to almost everybody. Now we do not have access to about half a million people," McDonagh told Reuters.

In the past, aid workers blamed government restrictions for lack of access to the needy in Darfur, but according to McDonagh, banditry and lawlessness are now primarily to blame.


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