Brussels, 29/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has earmarked €51 million in humanitarian aid for the victims of conflict in Sudan. This amount includes at least €31 million for the Darfur region. It brings Commission aid for Sudan for this year to more than €248 million, including about €215 Darfur. This will help provide the victims with food, shelter, access to clean water and sanitation, emergency health care and protection, explained a press release.
Louis Michel, the newly appointed Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Development, said in Khartoum, "I spoke to some of the people benefiting from EU funded projects and heard about the horrors that they have lived through. It is high time that the many promises of peace made so far are respected, once and for all. I call upon all armed groups to stop violence against civilians and allow aid workers to do their difficult and vital job as safely as possible".
On Monday Fiona Hall MEP (ALDE, Britain) indicated that she had just learned that the Sudanese government had expelled the Director of Save the Children from the country and has "issued warnings to Oxfam". The British Liberal Democrat MEP said in a press statement that this was, "outrageous. There are 1.5 million people totally dependent on humanitarian aid in Sudan. They will not survive if aid organisations are expelled from the country". She recalled that during the session of the joint Parliamentary Committee of the ACP/EU last week in The Hague, the Sudanese delegation had supported a common resolution encouraging the Sudanese government to guarantee humanitarian personnel full access to those who needed it. (EUROPE 24 November p 7).