Sudan: Boat Sinks Leaving 197 Migrants Dead
Khartoum---About 197 migrants bound for Saudi Arabia drowned in the Red Sea when a boat they were travelling in caught fire and capsized, Sudanese media have said.
The Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) reported that only three people had been rescued and are being treated in a hospital near Atiaba, 200km from the port of Sudan where the incident took place.
According to the State-linked news agency the ship carrying migrants from neighbouring countries had launched from the Red Sea State and sailed for four hours in Sudanese territorial waters before it caught fire. The vessel is believed to be homemade, probably one of the reasons that caused the incident.
Among those on board were nationals from Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea and Somalia SMC reported. Rescue efforts for any possible survivors are underway, as unconfirmed sources say that it had sunk on Saturday although the Sudanese media reported it on Tuesday.
Four Yemenis allegedly the owners of the vessel have been arrested in Port Sudan State said the report, which also claimed that authorities had foiled a second attempt to smuggle 247 migrants in the same state.
Cases of illegal migrants drowning off the Sudanese coast have been high in the recent past. The Red Sea channel is the most preferable route used by African migrants escaping to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, a dangerous journey which thousands have to engage in search for better economy.
Mogadishu, Somalia
A Quarter of Somali Population Displaced in Hunger Crisis
An estimated a quarter of Somalia’s 7.5 million population has been either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees, due to the devastating drought and the ongoing war, UN refugee agency has said.
The UNHCR has said it is particularly disturbed by the levels of malnutrition among refugees fleeing Somalia which could lead to a “human tragedy of unimaginable proportions.”
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said more than 50 percent of the children arriving in Ethiopia are malnourished compared to 30 to 40 percent of those arriving in Kenya.
Ms Fleming told a press briefing at Geneva that some children reportedly have died while making the trek from southern Somalia to camps in other countries, while many die within 24 hours of arrival at those camps.
“Many families tell us they exhausted virtually all of their resources. Facing starvation, they walk for days, several weeks at times, through the desert, arriving in an appalling state of health,” she said.
She linked the crisis to the ongoing unrest in the country which has displaced thousands.
“The relentless violence that's compounded by a terrible drought has forced more than 135,000 Somalis to flee Somalia so far this year,” she said. “In June alone, 54,000 people fled across the two borders, and that is three times the number in May. So this is a huge spike.”
This follows last week’s emergency call by British aid groups Oxfam, Save the Children and the Red Cross in response to the food crisis that has affected over 12 million people in the Horn of Africa.
The groups also raised concern over the swelling number of arrivals at the Dadaab refugee complex in north-east Kenya. About 1,400 refugees are arriving at the camp everyday, raising fear that the number could reach up to half a million.
Head of Refugee Affairs in Kenya Badu Katelo said provision of basic needs at the camp were over stretched and security situation was getting worse. Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world originally built to hold 90,000 people but now hold more than 380,000.
The UNHCR is planning to open additional camps in south-east Ethiopia after a recently opened one in the region is quickly reaching its 20,000 capacity.
Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan’s Ruling Party Denies Split over Kordofan Deal
Senior politician with Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has rejected claims that the party was internally split over the agreement signed with the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) to resolve conflict in South Kordofan State.
Rabie Abdelati Odeid a prominent NCP politician said his party is satisfied with the last week’s agreement, where he maintained that Khartoum reserved the right to maintain peace and security in the border state, which he said belongs to the north.
“Our forces control the whole area of Southern Kordofan. It is the responsibility of Sudan Armed Forces and [other] security forces to control the borders to achieve peace and security for the people there,” said Obeid.
His statement comes following reports in the local media that the many hardliners in NCP had rejected the accord which they termed as a back down by President Omar Al-Bashir who had vowed to continue military operations against SPLM elements in the state.
The agreement which was signed last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, called for an immediate ceasefire and provided a framework for security and political agreement in South Kordofan as talks in finding everlasting solution in the conflict continues.
Bashir was quoted in the official Sudanese state media (SUNA) saying that while he abided with the agreement, the SPLM faction have yet to conform with laws of creating political parties that will allow them to operate in the north like other political parties.
Conflict between government forces and SPLM allied forces in the state has been raging since June 5, with the government accused of propagating genocide against the Nuba people in its intensified airstrike.
SPLM is the dominant party in the South but people of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile which lie in the north joined ranks with them to fight the Khartoum government during the civil war years.
Clashes in the oil-rich Abyei state which both north and south claim have raised great fears over renewed north-south conflict which ended with the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Final preparations are underway in Juba, South Sudan’s capital for this Saturday’s upcoming independence of Africa’s newest 54th nation which is expected to be graced by dignitaries from all over the world.