VZCZCXRO5520
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1072/01 1251406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051406Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2643
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001072 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
USMISSION UN ROME 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: Sudan - Humanitarian Challenges in the East 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  A USAID team visited Kassala from April 20 to 23, 
2006, to assess the humanitarian situation in eastern 
Sudan.  A disagreement between the U.N. Mission in Sudan 
(UNMIS) and Sudan's Government of National Unity (GNU) 
concerning implementation of the U.N. Status of Forces 
Agreement (SOFA) is preventing U.N. agencies from 
conducting humanitarian operations in Kassala State.  The 
withdrawal of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) 
from the Hamesh Koreib enclave continues, but tension has 
escalated due to uncertainty surrounding final security 
handover procedures.  Residents originally displaced from 
Hamesh Koreib have expressed their unwillingness to 
return following the withdrawal of SPLA forces.  These 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) are likely motivated 
by a desire to maintain access to water, health, and 
education services currently provided by non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) in their current IDP communities. 
End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  From April 20 to 23, 2006, USAID Senior Humanitarian 
Advisor Kate Farnsworth and Food Security Advisor Abdel 
Rahman Hamid visited Kassala State to monitor USAID- 
funded activities and gain a better understanding of the 
current humanitarian situation in eastern Sudan.  The 
team held group meetings with local and international 
NGOs operating in the area including Accord, the Sudanese 
Red Crescent (SRC), Ockenden, the Dutch Red Cross, and 
GOAL.  In addition, the team convened specific meetings 
with GOAL, SRC, the U.N. Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO), UNMIS Civil Affairs, U.N. Military 
Observers (UNMO), and local political actors including 
the Governor of Kassala State, representatives from the 
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and Ahmed 
Tirik, leader of the Hadendawa tribe and a former Kassala 
State Minister of Education. 
 
¶3.  Sudan's GNU remains suspicious of humanitarian 
agencies operating in the east and monitors their work 
closely.  The USAID visit occurred in tandem with a 
similiar field visit of the European Commission 
Humanitarian Office (ECHO).  The local Humanitarian Aid 
Commission (HAC) office detailed two staff members to 
travel full time with the USAID and ECHO assessment 
teams.  HAC officials either participated in or monitored 
all conversations that occurred in the field between the 
USAID and ECHO teams and beneficiary populations. (Note: 
This also happens in other sensitive areas within Sudan, 
such as Abyei.  End note.) Local officials prevented the 
USAID team from traveling to Odi, an International Rescue 
Committee (IRC) project area approximately 10 kilometers 
from the entry point of the Hamesh Koreib enclave. 
Authorities have also blocked IRC's access to Odi in 
recent weeks, and only SRC enjoys freedom of movement 
throughout the area. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Status of Forces Disagreement Threatens U.N. Presence in 
the East 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶4.  An ongoing disagreement between UNMIS leadership and 
government officials over interpretation of articles 64 
and 65 of the U.N. SOFA has brought all U.N. humanitarian 
operations outside of Kassala town to a halt.  The GNU 
insists that the SOFA only applies to UNMIS political and 
military personnel.  U.N. specialized agencies - such as 
the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), U.N. Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), U.N. Food 
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and U.N. High 
Commission for Refugees - continue to assert their right 
to travel freely throughout Sudan without obtaining a 
government-issued travel permit.  The resulting stand-off 
has suspended U.N. staff movements out of the immediate 
vicinity of Kassala town.  Unable to monitor their relief 
 
KHARTOUM 00001072  002 OF 003 
 
 
and assistance programs, WFP and UNICEF have suspended 
food and non-food distributions in the local area.  In a 
meeting with USAID, the Kassala State Governor asserted 
the government's position: that it reserves the right to 
monitor and control visitor movements within its 
sovereign territory.  Furthermore, the GNU sees no reason 
to drop this requirement as the U.N. has complied with 
such requests for the last 18 years.  The Governor 
acknowledged the importance of U.N. contributions to the 
development of the area and proposed the mutual adoption 
of a travel notification system to which both parties 
could agree.  The U.N. has not yet accepted this proposal 
and has threatened to withdraw all operational agencies 
from eastern Sudan if the SOFA issue is not resolved in a 
timely manner. 
 
¶5.  Meanwhile, non-government organizations (NGOs) 
continue to request travel permits to move out of the 
city.  In general, permits can be obtained in about 24 
hours.  In some cases, permits are granted for multiple 
days to facilitate longer field trips.  The USAID team 
observed that travel documents are carefully scrutinized 
by security officers at each checkpoint.  When the USAID 
team attempted to visit an FAO project on the periphery 
of Kassala town, the group was denied access because the 
specific site was not listed on the travel permit. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
SPLA Withdrawal from Hamish Koreib Creates Uncertainty 
and Tension 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6.  Uncertainty surrounding the withdrawal of SPLA forces 
from the Hamesh Koreib enclave is a major topic of 
conversation and an ongoing source of tension in eastern 
Sudan.  While attempting to gain a better understanding 
of the challenges facing the local humanitarian 
community, the USAID team discovered that even foreign 
aid workers are affected by the prevailing tension. 
There is general concern within the humanitarian 
community that completion of the SPLA withdrawal 
(currently scheduled for June) will create a local power 
vacuum that will likely result in violent clashes between 
Eastern Front and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control 
of the area.  One U.N. interlocutor opined that SAF may 
initiate reprisals against local civilians accused of 
aiding the Eastern Front during the conflict, and that 
reprisals of this nature could trigger displacements into 
Eritrea.  Local residents generally acknowledged the 
presence of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels. 
Prior to the team's visit, JEM had claimed responsibility 
for a security incident at Wager.  Since the USAID team 
visited the area, JEM rebels ambushed vehicles traveling 
on the Port Sudan road while ostensibly targeting the 
Kassala State Governor's convoy. 
 
¶7.  The Kassala State Governor promised IRC, USAID's 
largest partner in the area, access to Hamish Koreib 
following completion of the SPLA withdrawal.  SRC is the 
only NGO currently permitted to operate in Hamesh Koreib 
town.  SRC is providing limited health services to local 
beneficiaries using a hospital and compound previously 
occupied by Samaritan's Purse but does not have the 
financial resources to continue operating indefinitely. 
SRC expressed interest in a joint partnership with 
Samaritan's Purse but Samaritan's Purse has been unable 
to obtain a permit to travel to Kassala.  USAID partners 
who normally work in Hamish Koreib anticipate shortages 
of food and medicine should relief programs stall during 
this transition period.  The government has expressed a 
desire to put an end to relief programs in the area and 
cannot guarantee the safety of any NGO that would "cross 
the front line" from government-held Hamesh Koreib to 
"SPLA-controlled" areas. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
USAID Programs - IDPs Are Happy Where They Are 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8.  Kassala's 10 IDP camps hold an estimated 78,000 
residents who benefit from integrated programs aimed at 
addressing the root causes of poverty and marginalization 
 
KHARTOUM 00001072  003 OF 003 
 
 
in the east.  These interventions are funded primarily by 
USAID and ECHO.  USAID grants to IRC, GOAL, FAO, and WFP 
support villages in various localities - including the 
government-held areas of Hamesh Koreib - with health, 
water, food security, and livelihoods activities such as 
restocking, women savings societies, and pasture-land 
recovery.  These interventions are yielding a positive 
impact in the areas served and provide lessons learned 
for expansion of similar activities if additional 
resources become available.  A longer trip report, 
submitted separately by e-mail, provides details on 
projects and site visits undertaken by the team. 
 
¶9.  IDPs interviewed by the USAID team said they had no 
intention of returning home to Hamesh Koreib, even 
following the SPLA withdrawal.  Since all land in 
Hadendawa areas is tribal, IDPs were assured that they 
would be able to establish permanent settlements.  With 
access to good schools, clinics, and safe drinking water, 
they see no reason why they should return to the 
"enclave".  Local residents expressed some concern that 
IDPs may be manipulated by tribal leaders who want them 
to repopulate areas of the Hamesh Koreib enclave and 
reduce the demand for land along the Gash River. 
However, the government believes the IDPs will stay where 
they are.  The government appears to have begun preparing 
for this eventuality by investing in social service 
infrastructure, such as schools, that will serve groups 
of IDP villages. 
 
¶10. A major conference on humanitarian and development 
assistance to the east sponsored by the U.N., NGOs, and 
the eastern state governments took place in Port Sudan on 
May 2 and 3.  Septel will report on the key agenda items 
and points of discussion during that meeting. 
 
STEINFELD