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UN relief official concerned about new displacement in North Darfur

Xinhua, February 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Marta Ruedas, on Wednesday expressed her concern about the plight of more than 85,000 newly displaced civilians in Sudan's North Darfur State after the recent escalation in conflict, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

On Monday, Rueda visited Tawilla, west of El Fasher, where more than 22,000 people, mostly women and children, have gathered in recent weeks next to an existing camp for displaced people, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of conflict and that their protection is the UN's paramount concern, she said.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the United Nations, international and national organizations, and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society are delivering assistance but the massive influx of new arrivals is straining an already logistically complex humanitarian operation.

On Tuesday, an 11-truck aid convoy left El Fasher for Sortony, in North Darfur, where the influx has been greatest -- with over 63,000 newly displaced people, said the spokesman.

"The United Nations urges all parties to the conflict to allow access to displaced people in Central Darfur, and calls for immediate, safe and unfettered access to all people in need, wherever they may be located," he said.

The UN and other international organizations have earlier complained about "significant restrictions" for them to have access to thousands of internally displaced persons, due to continued military clashes at Jebel Marra in Darfur region.

In North Darfur, which borders Central Darfur, the UN currently estimates that close to 85,000 people, mainly women and children, have fled fighting in the Jebel Marra area over the past five weeks.

In the middle of last January, violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese army and the rebels of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)/Abdul-Wahid Nur faction around Jebel Marra area in Sudan's Central Darfur State. Enditem