Press Room > Oxfam Ireland Press Release
February 2nd 2005
PRESS RELEASE
Suffering continues in Darfur
Suffering on a massive scale continues in Darfur, Oxfam warned today. 1.65 million people have been forced to flee their homes and are forced to live in camps or in makeshift shelters on the edge of towns, unable to return to their villages.
Each week thousands more people arrive in camps and villages across Darfur. There they join the hundreds of thousands already living in desperate conditions, many without access to clean water and sanitation, poor shelter and little food, in conditions ripe for malnutrition and disease.
Last week Oxfam began operations in Shangil Tobayi on the border between North and South Darfur. Within hours we received reports of fresh attacks 15 km to the South that reportedly left more than 100 dead. Within days families had begun to arrive in Shangil Tobayi having fled their homes.
Some camps are now enormous. In South Darfur Kalma camp has now grown to over 140,000 people. In North Darfur Abu Shouk camp has grown to over 90,000 people.
"The debate on Darfur is in danger of sounding like a historical exercise. We mustn't forget that people are still being killed, still being forced to flee their homes, still suffering each and every day. In some cases people who have already been driven from their homes once are being forced to move on again. The level of suffering that is still going on in Darfur is incredible.
In response to the natural disaster of the Tsunami the world united to save lives. In Darfur people are dying needlessly because of other people's actions, yet the world has responded with half measures and empty promises," said Caroline Nursey, Oxfam's regional director.
Contact:
Oxfam Ireland Press Officer Paul Dunphy on 01 6040706
Sudan: Adrian McIntyre - + 249 912 391 657