VZCZCXRO5740
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0537/01 0950942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050942Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6732
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR PMARCHAM, MMAGAN, AND TSHORTLEY 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI UN SU
SUBJECT:  DARFUR - BEIDA, WEST DARFUR - LIVING ON THE EDGE 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00000537  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (U) On March 14, the first USAID team to visit Beida, West 
Darfur, in more than 16 months traveled to the border town with 
representatives of the U.K. Department for International Development 
(DFID) to monitor humanitarian programs and assess current 
conditions.  Travel to the area had not been permitted previously 
due to insecurity along the Chad-Sudan border.  The USAID team found 
that the situation in the town and internally displaced person (IDP) 
camp had stabilized since the January 18 pre-emptive draw down of 
relocatable staff triggered by the build up of Chadian armed 
opposition groups in the area.  On February 18, expatriate 
humanitarian staff returned to Beida and non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) are in the process of scaling up programs to 
pre-December levels.  However, armed opposition group movements, 
tensions between dominant Arab groups and the local population, and 
strained relations between Arab leaders and humanitarian agencies 
present challenges to emergency relief efforts.  End summary. 
 
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Background 
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¶2.  (U) Humanitarian activities in the southwestern corridor of West 
Darfur have suffered frequent program suspensions due to insecurity 
in the border region.  Beida's proximity to the Chad-Sudan border 
has exposed it to repeated cross-border shelling and combatant 
movements from Sudan in to Chad, resulting in four staff relocations 
of NGO personnel since November 2006.  The temporary establishment 
of five Chadian armed opposition group camps, comprised of an 
estimated 40 vehicles, represented the latest security threat 
responsible for the January 18 evacuation of expatriate staff. 
 
¶3.  (U) Three international agencies, Tearfund, Medair, and Save the 
Children/US (SC/US) support a combined IDP, Chadian refugee, and 
host community population of 20,000 individuals in Beida.  Through 
implementing partner Tearfund, USAID nutrition and water, 
sanitation, and hygiene programs supplement nutrition to 170 
malnourished children monthly, educate 6,000 children biweekly on 
improved hygiene practices, and provide access to clean water for 
the general population.  DFID-funded Medair health programming 
provides health care services to approximately 110 people daily and 
the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) delivers emergency food assistance 
through implementing partner SC/US to approximately 20,000 people 
per month.  In addition, humanitarian agencies provide health and 
food support to Chadians who cross the border in to Beida in search 
of services and then return to Chad.  Agencies on the ground 
hypothesize that increased insecurity and a general lack of basic 
services in eastern Chad account for the population movements. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Humanitarian Assistance in the Face of Obstacles 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4.  (U) Despite the erratic presence of agencies on the ground in 
Beida, humanitarian programming has continued due in large part to 
the continued engagement of Tearfund's Sudanese staff in health, 
hygiene, and nutrition support programs and the commercial transport 
of medical supplies for the Medair-operated clinic.  Along the 
southwest corridor of West Darfur, ongoing USAID programs provide 
essential services to more than 100,000 individuals.  However, 
insecurity has prevented the transport of drilling rigs to the area, 
delaying efforts to improve access to water. 
 
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Strained Relations with Arab Groups 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Relations between humanitarian agencies and dominant Arab 
groups in Beida are strained.  USAID officers met with the local 
emir, Ahmed Douai, and 14 sheikhs who predominantly represent Arab 
nomads. (Note:  The emir and 12 of the sheikhs are of Chadian origin 
and entered Beida with the sheikh's brother, Mohammed Douai, during 
the 1984-85 drought and later settled in the area in the 1990s.  The 
Arab sheiks are economically and politically dominant over the local 
population.  End note.)  Arab leaders have requested additional 
water points across the locality and a school for IDPs.  The sheikhs 
would like to construct a water tower in Beida to promote the 
additional settlement of nomads in the area.  However, an 
 
KHARTOUM 00000537  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
environmental assessment conducted by Tearfund indicated that the 
water table would not be able to sustain the project. 
 
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Willing Participants for Relocation Decline 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) In response to insecurity along the Chad-Sudan border, the 
Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supports a 
voluntary relocation program for Chadian refugees from the border 
area to Um Shalaya refugee camp near Mornei, West Darfur.  However, 
the number of refugee families willing to relocate has steadily 
declined across the region.  As of March 13, the number of families 
in Ararah willing to relocate had declined from 200 to 126 and from 
147 to 83 in Beida.  The reason for the decline is unclear, but 
humanitarian agencies believe that some refugees have begun to 
return to Chad, although accurate information regarding the return 
environment in eastern Chad is difficult to obtain. 
 
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Comment 
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¶7.  (U) The reliability and capacity of humanitarian activities 
along the Chad-Sudan border are intricately connected to the 
cross-border security situation.  Movements of armed groups and 
manipulation of the social and political structure through the 
importation and entrenchment of Arab Chadian groups and the 
destruction of villages pose significantly challenges to the 
targeting and provision of humanitarian assistance in Beida 
locality.  End comment. 
 
HUME