UN evacuates more than personnel

It has been a sad week in Fasher. The UN agencies finished evacuating their non-essential staff leaving fewer than 15 people behind to manage responses to only life-threatening situations.

UNAMID declared the whole of Darfur a phase IV zone, requiring all non-essential personnel to evacuate to Uganda, Egypt, and Ethiopia. They are calling it an administrative relocation because it sounds less like they are abandoning the people of the area. The plan was to get everyone - all 3,600 UN civilian personnel - out of the country in a 5 day period. That plan has hit a few snags. Mechanical problems, logistical mistakes, miscommunication, and lack of coordination have meant that nearly a thousand remain behind until the kinks in the system can be worked out.

The cessation of all field missions and restricted movement for UN assets like helicopters has also meant that NGOs have had to limit their activities and reduce their personnel to bare minimums. A few NGOs have not given in to what they feel is just hyper hysteria and continue to operate in the rural areas with little guarantee of evacuation should the rumors of an imminent attack against government controlled areas by the allegedly united rebel factions actually come true.

The usually bustling town is a tad off today. Stores are open and people go about their business but the largest employer and biggest economic driver is shipping out and people are scared. Mahmoud, a storekeeper in the central market, recently bet the farm on continued profits from UNAMID and other international customers - quite literally. Mahmoud sold a large area of his farm to build a warehouse and fill it mainly with bottled water. A profitable commodity, bottled water used to go for upwards of 9 dollars for 9 litres (six bottles of 1.5 litres of Safia). Today the market can barely hold at 6 dollars and Mahmoud predicts that the slide will continue. "No Sudanese will pay for water, it is unthinkable," he lamented. No sooner than you enter a person's home or shop in Darfur, you will receive a large metal cup of cool water. Declining is not insulting. I accepted once and wound up in the hospital with an intravenous drip, so now I decline with a smile and a hand over my heart to express thanks. But no thanks.

It is not hard to see the negative impact the departure of so many people will have on a town like Fasher. The UN had been on phase III when I arrived here 7 months ago. Now with phase IV and phase V around the corner (many people fear), they might as well call it "on your mark, get set, GO." At least that is the sentiment of many residents who feel abandoned and also wonder if the departure will mean the loss of jobs. UNAMID had been engaged in a massive recruitment campaign. Many NGOs lost good program and admin personnel to positions such as driver or security guard with UNAMID because of the significant difference in pay. This year, 45 school teachers in Fasher abandoned their posts in favor of jobs as translators, drivers, or security guards. The situation is even worse in the interior. Each employee supports families who have come to depend on this salary. Now the threat of that income diminishing or stopping is giving everyone in Fasher a reason to lament the departure of UNAMID personnel.

No one even talks about why they are leaving. Hard to even come close to narrowing down the reason for the decision to pull the plug. The recent attack is definitely one of the triggers. The belief that it was only the tip of a large, unseen iceberg of trouble is also probably a cause. But because we do not see any significant change in the conflict situation, it is hard to say what would trigger a return to former levels in Darfur. How long do we wait to see things deteriorate and say "ah, hah, see I told you the evacuation was necessary!" Or did the evacuation allow for the events to unfold the way they might?

Today word got out on the internet of an impending attack on Khartoum. Hundreds of vehicles heading toward the capital to ... what? Not sure. To drive home the message that what happens in Darfur is not a Darfur problem but a Sudanese problem. Hard to imagine that the rebels stand any chance of actually defeating the government. They will terrorize the town. Create apprehensions among the foreigners and bring Sudan back into the forefront of people's thoughts, for a while anyway.

It is hard to be a witness to all this movement of military materiel and young men newly trained to be the government's new loyal fighters without feeling like something more can and should be done.

The ICC came out with its indictment of the president, charging him with 10 counts of genocide. The statute of the ICC talks about helping to build reconciliation. That peace is not possible without justice. The prosecutor is at least doing something when the rest of us can only stare and shake our collective heads at the insanity of this war.

Does the threat of a warrant mean a threat to peace?

What peace?

All parties to this conflict have seen what price is paid by those who do not use the force of arms. Very few will go to that place again anytime soon. The best alternative to a negotiated agreement has not yet been uncovered. Probably buried somewhere under the next major battle with big losses on all sides, waiting for the first massive demonstration against the growing body count, or sitting on the sidelines waiting for the ammunitions and weapons supply to finally dry up. Until that happens, there is no peace to preserve. No in my opinion. For what it is worth.

Cool wind and heavy drops of rain, promises of a better night's sleep before I make my way to Khartoum in the morning.

Until then.