'Unimaginable' suffering now gripping Darfur

London: More than four years after civil war erupted in Darfur, forcing at least two million people to flee their homes, Oxfam yesterday launched a new appeal to alleviate the "unimaginable" suffering in this arid region of western Sudan.

The "Darfur and Chad Emergency Appeal" reflects how the conflict has spread across borders. A war which began in Darfur has also engulfed neighbouring Chad, where renewed fighting has displaced at least 100,000 in the last year alone.

"The level of suffering continues on an almost unimaginable scale," said Oxfam. "Intensifying violence is forcing people to stay in cramped, makeshift camps. Living conditions are desperate and dangerous."

At present, Oxfam is providing about 500,000 people with clean water and sanitation. Hundreds of refugee camps - the largest of which has 90,000 inhabitants - are now scattered across the rugged terrain of Darfur and Eastern Chad, on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert.

Food, clean water and sanitation are the most urgent humanitarian needs in the camps.