Darfur's fate became even more uncertain after the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month issued an international arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the region. The expulsion of the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) – including Oxfam, CARE International and Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders – came as a response to the ICC indictment.
While the government claims the humanitarian situation in Darfur is stable despite the expulsions, the UN insists humanitarian gaps left by the departure of the NGOs have not been filled.
In the span of one week in early April, 10 people, including two children, reportedly died of diarrhea in Zamzam camp in northern Darfur, according to one aid organization, which requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Latrines have collapsed, mechanized water pumps are running out of fuel, and in one case, pro-government militiamen stole the food rations of displaced people, the organization says.
In March, the expulsions left 5,000 malnourished children under five and pregnant and lactating women without supplementary food, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
Only about 30 percent of the 650,000 people that had lost healthcare coverage following the departure of the NGOs have received some form of assistance, OCHA says.
Displaced Darfuris now more vulnerable
The expulsions have also left the displaced, especially women and children, more vulnerable to attacks, according to US Agency for International Development, or USAID. Since March, aid workers have reported increased attacks targeting displaced people collecting firewood near their camps.
