Lack of Funds Could Cause UNHCR Cutbacks in Darfur

GENEVA - The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday it would have to cut back its humanitarian operations in Sudan's Darfur region unless it received more funds immediately.

Only $12.6 million has been received towards its 2007 budget of $19.7 million, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We are seriously short of money," Pagonis told a news briefing. "We are already facing difficulties in paying staff salaries for next month.

"It is on the world map, everybody knows what is happening in Darfur. It always seems incomprehensible that we don't have enough money to do what we need to do down there."

People fleeing fighting continue to arrive in camps for internally displaced people around El Geneina and Zalingei, West Darfur, the UNHCR said.

"We appeal to donors to quickly provide contributions so we can continue our work," Pagonis said.

The UNHCR helps some of the 2 million internally displaced people in Darfur as well as the local population by improving basic services such as wells, schools and health centres.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the Khartoum government of neglecting the remote west. International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been driven from their homes during 4-1/2 years of fighting in Darfur.

The UNHCR is also responsible for 30,000 refugees in Darfur who have crossed over from Chad and Central African Republic, a number which has increased steadily this year and is likely to grow further, Pagonis said.