Khartoum: Rhino – The Sudanese Agency for Relief and Humanitarian Operations (SARHO) said today, Saturday, that security authorities in the city of El Daba in northern Sudan continue to detain 160 humanitarian aid trucks belonging to the World Food Program (WFP), which have been prevented from reaching their destinations in the Darfur region. This constitutes a deliberate attempt to obstruct the delivery of aid to thousands of displaced people and communities affected by the war, amid the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.
The trucks are carrying more than 6,000 tons of food and non-food items, according to a statement from the agency confirming that all required legal procedures had been completed, including obtaining movement permits from the Sudanese Land Transport Regulatory Authority, before they were stopped by the army’s military intelligence forces and prevented from reaching their destinations in the states of East and South Darfur, as well as the Tawila area in North Darfur.
The trucks had been ready to depart since February and March of this year, according to the statement.
The agency called on the international community and United Nations agencies to intervene urgently and effectively to ensure the immediate release of the detained trucks and to guarantee their safe and unimpeded passage to the intended beneficiaries in the Darfur region.
The statement read: “Preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need constitutes a grave violation of the principles of international humanitarian law, exacerbates human suffering, and exposes civilians—particularly the displaced—to the risks of hunger, malnutrition, and disease. The army bears full responsibility for the continued detention of these shipments and the obstruction of their passage throughAl-Daba crossing).
The Sudanese Agency for Relief and Humanitarian Operations expressed deep concern over the prolonged detention and the associated risks to the safety of the shipments, including the possibility of their damage, loss, diversion, or misuse for purposes other than the humanitarian ones for which they were intended.
