VZCZCXRO1353
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0922/01 1621154
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111154Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7572
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000922 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, DS/IP/AF, DS/DSS/ITA, 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 ASEC UN SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR - GEREIDA CALM BUT UNPREDICTABLE 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00000922  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) On May 22, a USAID assessment team traveled to the 
SLA/Minawi-held town of Gereida, South Darfur, in the first USG 
visit since a violent attack on humanitarian agencies led to their 
withdrawal in December 2006.  In the absence of other relief 
organizations since the attack, the International Committee of the 
Red Cross (ICRC) has significantly expanded services and prevented a 
serious deterioration of humanitarian conditions.  However, critical 
gaps remain, including referral-level health care, livelihoods, 
education and youth activities, coordination, and water, sanitation, 
and hygiene.  Humanitarian and security personnel characterized the 
situation as "stable but unpredictable" since December, although the 
security of humanitarian staff remains a serious concern.  While the 
perpetrators of the December attack have not met any of the 
conditions for return laid out by the UN Office for the Coordination 
of Humanitarian Affairs, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 
are cautiously preparing to return to Gereida.  End summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
GEREIDA: CALM BUT UNPREDICTABLE 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The team held discussions on the security situation with 
ICRC, the Gereida humanitarian affairs office of Sudan Liberation 
Army under Minni Minawi (SLA/Minawi), the African Union Mission in 
Sudan (AMIS) site commander, and American Refugee Committee (ARC) 
staff.  All parties indicated that the security situation in Gereida 
has been calm for the last several months but remains unpredictable. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) As a result, physical security for internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) and residents remains a persistent concern.  The 
population of Gereida can only venture within a one to three 
kilometer perimeter around the camp/town.  Beyond this, they risk 
harassment or attack by Rizeigat, Fellata, or government military 
who control the area beyond Gereida's perimeter.  As such, Gereida 
remains an IDP island where traffic in and out is limited to ICRC 
and AMIS convoys and occasional commercial trucks that are able to 
negotiate cross-line passage.  AMIS has resumed patrols of the 
camp/town perimeter, but the effectiveness and coverage of these 
patrols is questionable.  ICRC has asked SLA/Minawi to patrol a 
greater area of the perimeter to help ensure a safe environment for 
cultivation during the upcoming rainy season, but SLA refused. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Additionally, ICRC noted that latent tensions exist between 
the IDP and resident community and SLA/Minawi, with community 
leaders viewing SLA/Minawi as an occupying force.  ICRC stated that 
SLA/Minawi benefits from controlling the camp by gaining legitimacy 
from the perceived support of the large IDP population, and by 
taxing, or seizing a percentage of, humanitarian assistance 
delivered to IDPs. 
 
¶5. (SBU) AMIS reported that SLA/Minawi appears to have solidified 
its leadership in the area, and noted improvements in command and 
control.  ICRC has not had any security issues since December, when 
an ICRC vehicle and laptop were stolen but subsequently returned. 
Despite the apparent calm, all agencies noted the inherent 
volatility of the operating environment.  The main threat to 
humanitarian staff remains the potential for increased tensions 
around town to spur another SLA/Minawi mobilization of vehicles and 
communications equipment. 
 
------------------------------------- 
PREVENTING A HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) ICRC's continued presence and quick expansion of activities 
prevented a humanitarian catastrophe following the withdrawal of all 
NGOs in December.  However, ICRC views their role as "bridging the 
gap" until other agencies resume operations and would prefer to 
focus on rural areas that other agencies cannot or will not access. 
With 300 staff, including 19 expatriates, ICRC is expending large 
human and financial resources to sustain the Gereida caseload, and 
is keen for UN and NGO partners to assist. 
 
¶7. (U) ICRC estimates the IDP camp population at around 123,000 
based on food distribution registers, and the town population at 
 
KHARTOUM 00000922  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
less than 20,000.  ARC's clinic had seen 155 patients the afternoon 
of the team's visit.  Most common illnesses were diarrhea and 
respiratory infections.  With the support of an IDP midwife, ARC 
offers 24-hour maternity care for uncomplicated pregnancies.  The 
midwife delivered 17 babies in May and assisted 189 deliveries since 
the primary healthcare clinic opened in April 2006.  According to 
ICRC, all water points in the camp are functioning, and have no 
queues for water collection.  ICRC also began a pre-rainy season 
plastic sheeting distribution on May 24. 
 
¶8. (U) ICRC reports that the nutrition situation is relatively 
stable, with supplementary feeding center (SFC) and therapeutic 
feeding center (TFC) admissions at nearly half of what they were the 
same time last year.  A nutrition survey is planned for mid-June and 
will include both IDPs and town residents.   With support from 
USAID's Office of Food for Peace and other donors, ICRC has been 
distributing general food rations to IDPs since February.  Note: 
ICRC rations differ from standard WFP rations by replacing vegetable 
oil with peanut oil and excluding corn-soya blend. 
 
¶9. (U) Other humanitarian agencies are cautiously resuming 
operations in Gereida.  ARC plans to post an expatriate staff member 
in Gereida town starting in June.  Merlin and Oxfam 'commute' to 
Gereida for assessments and remote program management on Tuesdays, 
returning to Nyala on the same day.  In addition, ZOA and CHF are 
preparing or considering restarting humanitarian programming. 
 
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GAPS IN ASSISTANCE 
------------------ 
 
¶10. (U) Despite ICRC's significant efforts in Gereida, gaps remain. 
Following an assessment trip to Gereida on May 22, a USAID team 
identified the following priority needs: 
 
--Humanitarian coordination: ICRC has been the de facto coordinator, 
but agencies appealed that Darfur's largest IDP camp requires a more 
substantial presence.  Donors continue to urge the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees to step up efforts for camp 
coordination, protection, and relief supplies in South Darfur. 
 
--Education and youth activities: Youth activities and education 
services would greatly improve the quality of life and opportunities 
for children. 
 
--Emergency and secondary health care: The Gereida town hospital 
does not provide 24-hour care and charges patients for hospital 
services, making IDP referrals to the hospital problematic. 
 
--Host community support: Cut off from the opportunity to cultivate 
and graze livestock, combined with the inherent resource/ecological 
tensions of supporting over 120,000 IDPs, the town population is 
becoming increasingly impoverished and vulnerable. ICRC recently 
supported the Sudanese Red Crescent for a clean-up effort to remove 
300 donkey carcasses from town and the camp in one week. 
Malnourished children from the town are seeking treatment in ICRC's 
SFC in the camp in increasing numbers.  Food security conditions are 
likely to deteriorate with residents unable to cultivate beyond the 
safe perimeter of the town.  The team observed that cereal prices in 
the market are nearly double the Darfur average.  ICRC is reviewing 
its capacity to further support town residents. 
 
--Water, sanitation, and hygiene: ICRC currently manages all six 
boreholes in the camp, but would prefer that the UN Children's Fund, 
Water Environment and Sanitation resume management of two of the 
six. 
 
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COMMENTS 
-------- 
 
¶11. (U) ICRC has played a crucial role by ensuring that the 
withdrawal of NGOs did not result in a humanitarian catastrophe at 
Darfur's largest IDP camp.  However, ICRC did not anticipate having 
to support nearly all of the humanitarian services for Gereida for 
more than a few months. 
 
¶12. (U) At the Khartoum level, collective advocacy and messaging 
efforts have not yielded the return of stolen vehicles and 
communications equipment, or explicit assurances from SLA/Minawi 
 
KHARTOUM 00000922  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
that humanitarian staff operating in Gereida will be safe. 
Nonetheless, discussions in Nyala are no longer focused on whether 
NGOs should or should not return to Gereida, but rather the 
modalities for return - i.e. the precautions that should be taken to 
mitigate the risk of future violent incidents.  A small handful of 
NGOs are cautiously resuming operations in Gereida under special 
precautions, including more carefully building relationships with 
SLA/Minawi leadership in Gereida, keeping a low operational profile, 
sharing vehicles, and storing vehicles in the AMIS compound. 
 
FERNANDEZ