§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the percentage of vulnerable persons accessible to non-governmental agencies and aid workers in Darfur, Sudan, has declined in the past four weeks; what number of people are now estimated to have been affected by the conflict in Darfur; and what are the estimated numbers of fatalities and displaced people. [HL351]
§ Baroness AmosInsecurity in Darfur continues to hinder access for delivery of humanitarian assistance. In the last four weeks the recent attacks such as those on Tawilah town on 22 November in north Darfur, and the killing on a road north of Nyala on 12 December of two Save the Children (UK) staff in south Darfur, have prompted withdrawals of some international staff from certain areas. This impacts severely on numbers of people in need who can be reached. In the month of November, the World Food Programme delivered food to 1.3 million people in Darfur, which was an increase on the 1.16 million people reached in October.
It is very difficult to establish a figure of the number of fatalities in Darfur. The UK supports the World Health Organisation to monitor the health and nutritional status of the affected population in Darfur, including morbidity and mortality surveys. The most recent survey was carried out in September. It suggested that between 6,000 and 10,000 people are dying each month in Darfur. This assessment will be updated shortly. The UK deplores on-going attacks by both rebels and Arab militia, such as the recent attack on Adwa on 1 December resulting in 150 killed. To date the UN estimates that there are 1.6 million internally displaced in Darfur, with a further 200,000 displaced as refugees in Chad.