Must double food aid to Darfur

Thousands of Sudanese villagers who have fled militia attacks will die if the world does not double the amount of food sent to the region, the head of aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières warned today. The UN security council has given Sudan a 30-day deadline for disarming the Arab Janjaweed militias largely blamed for the crisis, but Rowan Gillies, the international president of MSF, said refugees were so weakened by hunger that epidemics could sweep through their camps if food aid was not sent immediately. "There is a massive lack of response to what has happened, and in the end, for the people on the ground, what that means is a lack of food," he told Reuters. According to US estimates, 50,000 people could have died of hunger and disease in Darfur. Mr Gillies said that toll could be only the start of a humanitarian catastrophe. "The risk of epidemics over the next six months is very, very high," he added. The UN and international aid organisations have accused the pro-government Janjaweed militias of waging a brutal campaign to drive black Sudanese people from Darfur. An estimated 30,000 people have been killed in the 17-month conflict. One million people have been forced to flee their homes, and an estimated 2.2 million people are in urgent need of food, medicine and other basics. Outrage from Western governments and suggestions that Europe and the US could deploy troops have put pressure on Sudan's government, but it says it cannot meet the UN deadline to disarm the militias.