Attacks on national and international NGOs against the letter and the spirit of the African Union IDPs Convention

The campaigning group IDP Action today joins the chorus of civil society organisations condemning the actions of the government of Sudan in shutting down national NGOs and expelling international NGOs, all of which were providing vital and life-saving support to the country's five million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

"The contrast between the behaviour of the government of Sudan and the intent of the African Union to adopt a ground-breaking Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is stark. While on paper the African Union (AU) has laid out standards by which all its members should either provide humanitarian relief to IDPs or enable others, such as United Nations (UN) or non-government agencies, to do so, the government of Sudan has shown the utmost disregard for such standards and for the basic tenets of international humanitarian law" stated Jeremy Smith, Director of Organisational Strategy for IDP Action.

The decision to shut down three Sudanese NGOs and expel thirteen international NGOs is likely to have calamitous effects on the well-being of hundreds of thousands of Sudanese IDPs. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the expulsion of international NGOs:

• threatens the distribution of food aid to 1.1 million people across Sudan;
• undermines the delivery of health services for up to 1.5 million people in Darfur alone;
• creates a situation whereby access to adequate amounts of safe drinking water for some 1.16 million people is not assured, in turn increasing the risk of outbreaks of hygiene-preventable illnesses, like diarrhea and cholera.

The closure of the offices of the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) and the confiscation of its assets on 5 March curtails the operations of one of Sudan's most important humanitarian organisations, whose networks provided assistance to thousands of IDPs and poor farmers.

Impeding the operations of humanitarian organisations is contrary to the terms of the Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. The obligations of States regarding the provision of protection and assistance to IDPs are laid out explicitly in the Convention:

• "States Parties shall respect the mandate of the African Union and the United Nations, as well as the roles of international humanitarian organisations in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons in accordance with international law", article 5.3;
• "States Parties shall facilitate relief action that is humanitarian and impartial in character and allow rapid and unimpeded passage of all relief consignments, equipment and personnel to internally displaced persons. States Parties shall also enable and facilitate the role of local and international organisations and humanitarian agencies, non-governmental organisations and other relevant actors to provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons", article 5.6;
• "States parties shall uphold and respect the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence of humanitarian actors2, article 5.7;
• "States Parties shall respect, protect and not attack or otherwise harm humanitarian personnel and resources or other materials deployed for the assistance or benefit of internally displaced persons", article 5.9.

"Addressing the plight of IDPs in Sudan is first and foremost the responsibility of the government of Sudan. It must reverse its decision to clamp down on the work of Sudanese and international NGOs which provide vital relief and it must itself desist from actions which hinder humanitarian access or which risk creating displacement anew. But it is also a challenge for the AU – how seriously will its IDPs Convention be taken if it has stood aside and let the government of Sudan undermine the provision of assistance to millions of IDPs in defiance of some of the Convention's basic principles?" concluded Jeremy Smith.

Background

The AU decided at a Ministerial Conference held in Burkina Faso in 2006 to initiate a process to develop and adopt a legally-binding framework on the rights of IDPs. Over the last three years, the text of the Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa has evolved through dialogue among a Group of Experts and, most recently, the Foreign Ministers of AU member states. The text is to be adopted at a Special Summit of AU Heads of State and Government on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons, which was to be held in April 2009, but which has now been delayed until at least September 2009.

The closure of Sudanese NGOs and the expulsion of international NGOs has been described by the United Nations Independent Expert on Internally Displaced People, Walter Kalin, as likely to cause a "humanitarian catastrophe in the region. As a consequence of the Government's action, the rights of large numbers of internally displaced persons to life, food, water and the highest attainable standard of health may be gravely affected".

IDP Action is an advocacy organisation registered in the United Kingdom. Through research, lobbying and coalition-building, it works to ensure adequate protection and assistance is provided to IDPs in Africa.

Contact

• Jeremy Smith, Amsterdam, +31 (0) 20 623318
• Martin Clark, London, +44 (0) 7880 565 393