Sudan Aid Suspension Having 'Severe' Impact

Sudan's three-month suspension of aid work by the international Red Cross is having a "severe" impact as armed conflict worsens in the country, the ICRC said on Monday.

Sudanese authorities on February 1 suspended operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), saying the Geneva-based organisation had violated guidelines for working in the country.

The suspension was one of many restrictions placed on foreign aid workers in Sudan, where humanitarians are struggling to meet the needs of 6.1 million people -- about 17 percent of the population -- who need assistance.

The ICRC said that after "little progress" in talks towards resuming its work in Sudan, it has no choice but to lay off 30 percent of its Sudanese staff.

Last year, ICRC programs helped about 1.5 million people in the country.

But the suspension has resulted in "severe consequences for the Sudanese population in areas affected by the armed conflict, which has intensified over the past months and caused massive displacement in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan," an ICRC statement said.

It called on Sudanese authorities to let it resume work, "be it on a temporary basis while discussions take place -- in order that the humanitarian needs of people benefiting from ICRC programs can be addressed," Eric Marclay, ICRC's head of operations for East Africa, said in the statement from Geneva.

Rabbie Abdelatti Ebaid, a senior official in the ruling National Congress Party, told Agence France Presse the issue can be resolved.

"I think it is an administrative problem because our Red Crescent believes that all the aid, because they are a Sudanese organisation, should be under their supervision," Ebaid said.

"They are now trying and exerting a lot of effort to resolve this problem."

Darfur, in western Sudan, this year experienced its worst violence in a decade, with about 300,000 people displaced at the peak of the unrest.

In South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the United Nations says fighting between rebels and government troops has intensified in recent weeks, adding to humanitarian needs in an area where more than one million people were already affected.

Last year, medical gear provided by the ICRC treated more than 1,400 people who were injured in armed clashes in Sudan.

Over the past two years the Red Cross, as a neutral intermediary, facilitated the release of more than 200 captives.

These included South Sudanese prisoners of war, members of the Sudanese armed forces, and civilians -- including Chinese and Turks -- held by armed opposition groups.

More than 6,000 disabled people, many of whom lost limbs because of fighting, received help from ICRC-supported orthopedic centers in 2013, the organisation said.

Hundreds of thousands of others in Darfur received food, seeds and improved access to drinking water last year, while Red Cross-supported health centers saw more than 72,000 patients.

ICRC says Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission cited "technical issues" for the suspension while the Khartoum government asked the Red Cross to review the 30-year-old legal agreement detailing the organisation's status in Sudan.

"After some weeks of constructive negotiations, delays occurred and little progress was achieved", but the ICRC remains ready to complete the talks, it said, adding that 195 of 650 Sudanese staff will be laid off because of the 15-week suspension.

"The ICRC has always worked with total transparency and in strict accordance with its mandate in Sudan," it said.

"In order to protect and assist victims of armed conflict, it is imperative that the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality be adhered to."

While aid needs have increased in Sudan, international funding declined in the last three years for various reasons. These include concerns over access restrictions but also because of competing needs in other countries, the U.N. says.