Sudan

Khartoum kicks out aid workers

Article published on the 2009-03-05 Latest update 2009-03-06 06:51 TU

Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir speaks to a crowd in Khartoum protesting his arrest warrant
(Credit: Reuters)

The Sudanese government ordered international aid groups out of Sudan on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the International Criminal Court issued an indictment against President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Darfur. Some charities, such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had already been ordered to pull out its international staff.

"We strongly disagree with the decision and we are appealing against the decision at the moment in the hopes that the government will reverse and allow us to stay," said Alan McDonald, spokesperson for the Oxfam aid agency, in Nairobi.

He maintains that the decision does not punish Oxfam, but the Sudanese people.

"We work with 600,000 [people] across northern Sudan, and these are some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in the country," he told RFI.  

"Many are in Darfur where they suffered terrible violence during the conflict," he added.

People in Darfur live in basic camps, in poor conditions, and are dependent on aid, said McDonald. The Darfur program is one of Oxfam's largest, providing emergency aid for some 400,000 people, including water and sanitation.

"Fort he past five years the victims have been attacked - attacked in the villages, attacked in the camps by the person who was supposed to protect them, their president, President Omar Beshir," said Beatrice Le Frapper, the special adviser to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

"Our thoughts go to the women in Darfur, who have been raped regularly and brutally by the Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed militia under the instructions of Omar Beshir," she added.

Thursday some 5,000 Beshir supporters attended a rally in Khartoum.  He told the crowds that "true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe."

He also spoke out against ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, saying, "Ocampo and the Jews, we have been trained to confront people like you."