Darfur aid workers taken hostage

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October 2005

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Darfur aid workers taken hostage
Three male workers from the Darfur emergency program have been kidnapped at gunpoint by suspected militia forces. The men work for the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO), a local partner of Great Britain's Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). They were taken after visiting the Zam Zam refugee camp on September 30. The car they were travelling in was also taken.

CAFOD has joined with six other international agencies to send an appeal to all the parties involved in the Abuja peace talks to secure the immediate, safe and unconditional release of the three SUDO staff.

The letter, signed by senior representatives of Church World Service, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Trocaire, Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid, Dan Church Aid and Lutheran World Relief, calls for all the warring parties in Darfur to abide by international humanitarian law not to target civilians and to disarm all groups that have previously been armed or supported in the past.

The kidnappings come after a period of sustained and escalating harassment of aid agencies working in Darfur. Recent days have seen a worrying rise in violence against the people of Darfur with attacks on villages and camps leaving scores dead. The continuing conflict has made it impossible for all but a small handful of people to return home to their villages from the camps. United Nations Special Representative Jan Pronk has recently voiced concerns that unless security improves in the area, aid agencies may be forced to withdraw.

CAFOD spokeswoman Fiona Callister said, "The kidnapping of SUDO staff is extremely worrying and we call upon those who are holding the men to release them immediately. This latest development is part of a worrying pattern of violence and intimidation that seriously hampers our relief efforts and puts the vulnerable people of Darfur at even greater risk. Since the beginning of the year we have seen a marked rise in harassment with emergency supplies hijacked and partners arrested."

The SUDO staff are part of an ACT/Caritas emergency response programme reaching around 500,000 people.

CAFOD is a member of the programme which is funded by members of the Action by Churches Together, a global network of Protestant and Orthodox development agencies and Caritas Internionalis, the family of Catholic aid agencies.

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