Father. Country Director #Sudan @NRC_Norway
Dated Sunday 18 June 2023; 2:50 pm - full copy:
majority of #humanitarian ngo have *not* been issued new #sudan visas in the two months since the #conflict began
about 100 visa applications are still pending from over 30 orgs
we've had a team of 20 on standby for over a month - we could've helped 200k #displaced people by now. instead its far less, and will take longer - time which nobody can afford
its clear that humanitarian #access is impeded but unclear if its indecision or intention. its not a capacity bottleneck - visas are issued for non-humanitarian efforts
regardless, ministries and federal authorities can and should easily unblock this
these unnecessary delays have huge, real-life consequence for the humanitarian response, for delivering #aid and services to millions who are suffering
un ga resolution 46/182 outlines that 'states whose populations are in need of humanitarian assistance are called upon to facilitate the work of these organisations in implementing humanitarian assistance' (para. 6), and that the un has a 'central and unique role to play' to 'ensure the prompt and smooth delivery of relief assistance' (para. 13) -- so the un in all its councils, assemblies, members, and agencies all need to fulfil their role too
this hasn't happened yet
i often reflect on this icrc article, which argues that the denial of humanitarian assistance is a crime under international law (https://icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jq32.htm…), and wonder why global, continental, and regional powers so easily tolerate such arbitrary impediments from the icrc's commentary of the geneva conventions, which form the core of international humanitarian #law and regulate the conduct of armed conflict, they outline that its not really up to the discretion of warring parties:
"if the survival of the population is threatened and a humanitarian organization fulfilling the required conditions of impartiality and non-discrimination is able to remedy this situation, relief actions must take place (...) [a] refusal would be equivalent to a violation of the rule prohibiting the use of starvation as a method of combat"
there are positive signs of support and permission with many state-level authorities, embassy consular staff, and even the federal-level humanitarian aid commission is supportive of ngo visa issuance, but:
-not all high-level decision-makers are facilitating
-few stakeholders are confronting/resolving this
-ngos are operating, but quickly scaling is v difficult
-all sudanese civilians are suffering for it
View original:
https://twitter.com/WillCarter_NRC/status/1670428651299405825
[Ends]
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