Harassment of Aid Workers Continues in Darfur

December 17, 2006

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy has received numerous reports which are indicative of an increasingly difficult and dangerous atmosphere for aid workers in Darfur.

On Tuesday, December 12, two foreign healthcare workers of unspecified nationality and their Sudanese driver were forced from their car at gunpoint by Janjaweed militia members inside of Kerang refugee camp. A resident of the camp witnessed the carjacking, which occurred in broad daylight at approximately 2.30 PM.

According to two anonymous eyewitnesses, on Wednesday, December 13 around noon, three men in government uniforms stopped a Sudanese Red Crescent car in Kheraj al-Roh, a suburb of Al-Geneina. The driver was forced from the vehicle, although he was not hurt.

On the same day, a vehicle belonging to HelpAge International was carjacked at 3 PM on the road to the airport outside Al-Geneina. According to two people who were walking on the road and witnessed the incident, the Sudanese driver was threatened at gunpoint by two men wearing government uniforms who then took the car.

On the following day, December 14, two witnesses reported seeing another aid vehicle carjacked in front of Bolad library in Al-Geneina. The driver parked outside to get a newspaper, and when he returned, two men in government uniforms shoved the driver to the ground, demanded his keys, and drove off in the car.