VZCZCXRO8281
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0418/01 0831414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241414Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3354
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000418 
 
DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, SE GRATION, AF/SPG, AF/C, PRM 
NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF EAID SOCI ASEC KPKO AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: KALMA IDP LEADERS CONTINUE TO REFUSE HUMANTIARIAN SERVICES 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 410 
      B) KHARTOUM 409 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Humanitarian efforts in volatile Kalma IDP camp 
have ground to a halt as IDP leaders there have responded to the 
INGO expulsions by rebuffing UN efforts since March 21 to resume 
services.  Unrealistically demanding the return of the expelled 
NGOs, along with refusing any Sudanese and Islamic charities, 
leaders have forced UNAMID representatives in Nyala to seek higher 
intervention with UNAMID HQ in El Fasher.  Sources indicate camp 
sheikhs are meeting March 24 to ponder their options, but as the 
situation deteriorates, a UNDP effort to persuade them to accept UN 
agencies in the camp may bear fruit at the next scheduled meeting on 
March 26. CDA Fernandez implored a leading camp sheikh by phone on 
March 23 and 24 to agree to accept UN help.  Meanwhile, the South 
Darfur HAC continues to demand that NGOs alleviate the GOS-caused 
emergency by implementing programs without properly signed technical 
agreements.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) A March 21 UNAMID team visit to Kalma IDP camp in South 
Darfur was unable to fully resolve the issue of humanitarian access, 
according to a UNAMID briefing on March 23.  Admitting that the 
situation is worse than they initially believed, UN representatives 
described the situation as extremely tense, and said that the rapid 
deterioration of the situation was possible.  Kalma sheikhs 
presented a series of political demands to the UN, including 
requiring statements of support regarding the ICC from all 
organizations that intend to work in the camp; a call for the return 
of NGOs expelled by the GOS; and a refusal to permit any Sudanese, 
Arab or Muslim NGOs to operate in the camp.  Concluding the meeting, 
UNAMID Nyala referred the matter to UNAMID HQ in El Fasher for 
further input, and a UNAMID task force on Kalma camp, led by the 
Somali professor Abdi Hussein, will meet with the leaders on March 
25 to continue the effort. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Following the March 21 meeting, UNDP in Nyala has led an 
unofficial effort to negotiate with the obstinate Kalma sheikhs, and 
according to Aden Ali, head of UNDP in Nyala, their extreme 
opposition to even the UN's participation in the delivery of 
humanitarian aid has subsided over the last few days, leading Ali to 
expect a breakthrough at a meeting with IDP leaders in the March 25 
meeting.  "The mood in Kalma appears to be softening, but we are not 
celebrating yet," he told poloff on March 24.  Using a team of 
paralegals resident in Kalma (trained by the International Rescue 
Committee before their expulsion earlier this month), UNDP has gone 
sector by sector to diplomatically persuade leaders that while their 
complaints are still valid, they cannot politicize the delivery of 
humanitarian aid without violating their obligations to Kalma's 
90,000 plus residents.  Already IDPs within the camp appear to be 
reacting to the lack of services, as Ali reported that 7,000 IDPs 
have moved to nearby Bileil camp, where the UN and NGOs have 
stationed extra food supplies and begun a meningitis vaccination 
campaign. CDA Fernandez called an intransigent Sheikh Ali, the 
camp's most influential leader, on March 23 and 24 to urge an 
acceptance of the UN's help. Sheikh Ali was sympathetic to the USG, 
but had a long list of demands before he would consider changing the 
camp's tough stand. 
 
¶4. (SBU) IDP leaders are split on the decision to allow humanitarian 
operations to resume in Kalma camp, according to Rashid Gaal, deputy 
country director of the UK-based NGO Merlin, who told poloff on 
March 24 that while a strong majority remain steadfast in their 
political opposition, they are starting to realize the consequences 
of living in a camp with no services.  With the situation still 
volatile, NGOs and UN representatives did not travel to Kalma today, 
but Merlin, one of the NGOs which was not expelled, intends to begin 
operations there as soon as the situation permits.  Gaal, whose 
March 20 visit to the camp  was cut short after residents pelted him 
with stones, was cautiously optimistic that a breakthrough would be 
reached once the situation approached an untenable level.  "The 
bottom line is, they have to accept aid in some form," he said. 
"But how long will this take?  They are expecting the big shots from 
UNAMID to come to Kalma and be on camera, but they also know that 
it's not going to happen until they accept aid." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Sources within Kalma camp indicate that as the humanitarian 
situation there deteriorates, IDP leaders are still refusing to 
allow GOS-aligned NGOs to operate, but may relent to permit the UN 
to resume humanitarian operations there.  Tour Mohamed, a Nyala IDP 
representative with close ties in the camp, told poloff by telephone 
on March 24 that camp leaders are afraid GOS-affiliated NGOs will 
undermine security in the camp, and camp sheikhs are planning to 
welcome UN operations in the camp, as water sources are almost 
completely empty.  Adam Mohamedein, a Fur leader within Kalma camp, 
told emboff by telephone on March 24 that the situation was 
 
KHARTOUM 00000418  002 OF 002 
 
 
"severe," and camp leaders are now holding internal meetings to 
determine if they will permit the UN to access the camp.  Adamant 
that they will not accept aid from local NGOs or Arab countries, 
Mohamedein said local NGOs and Arab charities could act to undermine 
security in the camp and carry out the GOS's ultimate wishes of 
evacuating the camp. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The GOS's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) continues to 
retard the humanitarian effort of the UN and the NGOs that remain in 
Darfur, according to the UNDP's Aden Ali and Rashid Gaal of Merlin. 
Technical agreements between the GOS and NGOs remain unsigned while 
the HAC still requests that INGOs fill the gap in HAC-assigned 
locations and according to HAC's priorities.  Gaal said that while 
Merlin has signed a technical agreement with HAC in Khartoum, the 
South Darfur HAC has not yet moved on Merlin's paperwork.  According 
to Aden Ali, the GOS has instituted new flight regulations in 
Darfur, requiring all humanitarian flights to submit an obsessively 
detailed inventory before takeoff, and has also instituted new 
banking restrictions limiting monthly withdrawal for individuals 
from local banks to 3,000 Euros.  (Note:  These foreign exchange 
restrictions likely are part of a broader tightening of regulations 
intended to counter a critical shortage of FX nation-wide, rather 
than being aimed at the NGOs in particular.  End note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: While it may always be amateur hour in the offices 
of the GOS in South Darfur, the Kalma sheikhs have shown that they 
mean business and are not afraid to sacrifice humanitarian delivery 
to make a strong political statement.  UNAMID still is scrambling to 
resolve the standoff, but a high-level political effort, along with 
lower-level moves to reach out to individual sectors, may pay off 
this week as Kalma residents feel the pain imposed on them by the 
wrong-headed GOS decision and their leaders' natural political 
reaction to the regime's cruelty.  It is ironic that a small team of 
less than 50 paralegals trained by the IRC may actually save the GOS 
from a humanitarian catastrophe in Kalma camp.  Should UNAMID avert 
this crisis this week, the political will of Kalma camp will have 
been strengthened, but a brutal and arrogant GOS may remain 
oblivious to how big a bullet they just dodged. 
 
FERNANDEZ