“[This article] is about the recent ICC indictment against Bashir, the leader of Sudan. As a result, 12 of the biggest/well-known aid groups have been expelled from the country. One of the biggest refugee camps in Darfur, Kalma, have now declined from receiving aid from the aid groups that are still there, or from the Sudanese government itself. I found this particularly interesting because the refugees are using health as a weapon, and a tool, for making a political statement. An exceedingly dangerous action considering there has already been a meningitis outbreak in some parts of the camp, clean water is almost completely unavailable, and many have already died from diarrhea. Permanent health clinics run by MSF have closed, and a major concern is that recent improvements in nutrition and epidemic prevention will suffer a setback, especially because the rainy reason is starting soon. What is also striking is that refugees in Kalma have both flat out refused government help (even the setting up of meningitis vaccination clinics) but they also don’t trust the government to actually provide for their health, considering that it has massacred so many of them.”
– Larissa Eltsefon
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sudan-camp21-2009mar21,0,2603175.story
