In a new incident that reflects the fragility of the security situation in Darfur, which humanitarian teams operating in Sudan generally face, a field team from the AWAFY Sudanese Organization was subjected to armed robbery on Thursday, July 17, while returning from a humanitarian mission in the Abta area of Central Darfur State.
According to a report issued by the organization, the incident occurred at noon in the Garash area, located six kilometers from Zalingei, the state capital of Central Darfur, while the team was returning from a mission to monitor the registration of beneficiaries of the Emergency Humanitarian Interventions Program. The details of the incident date back to when an armed group of three individuals, riding a motorcycle, forcibly stopped the organization’s vehicle and forced the five-member team to hand over their work equipment and personal belongings, such as mobile phones and cash. The incident occurred at gunpoint, with no physical injuries reported. However, the staff suffered varying degrees of psychological trauma as a result of the sudden and violent situation.
Following the incident, AWAFY Sudanese Organization took a series of precautionary measures, including temporarily suspending humanitarian activities in the Abata area while assessing the security situation to make decisions regarding the resumption of work in the area.
The Sudan Rights Watch Network – Sudan condemns this incident, which will have repercussions in terms of exacerbating the existing humanitarian suffering. It strongly denounces it as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Four Geneva Conventions, the Additional Protocols, and other relevant regional and Sudanese laws, which provide general and special protection for humanitarian workers. The Network expresses its deep concern about the targeting of humanitarian workers and warns that its recurrence will lead to the cessation or obstruction of humanitarian work, thus contributing to the exacerbation of the existing humanitarian crisis.
The Network calls for an end to the targeting of humanitarian interventions and for the safety of humanitarian personnel in conflict-affected areas to be ensured. Central Darfur State is witnessing an escalating security deterioration, amidst the continued worsening of security fragility resulting from the repercussions of the ongoing April 15 war. In the face of these conditions, humanitarian organizations are facing significant challenges in delivering humanitarian aid to the areas most affected by the conflict in the Darfur region.