Jan Egeland, the UN’s chief humanitarian official, was this week brazenly and contemptuously denied access to Darfur by leaders of Khartoum’s National Islamic Front (“National Congress Party”). Not only was Egeland refused entry to South Darfur and West Darfur, but he was informed through the NIF’s UN mission in New York that he “would not be welcome in Khartoum.” As if to underscore their contempt for UN humanitarian operations, Khartoum’s genocidaires the next day denied Egeland use of Sudanese air-space as he sought to travel to Chad to see Darfuri refugees and the rapidly deteriorating conditions along the Darfur/Chad border.

Although Khartoum may be expediently re-calibrating its response to the Egeland assessment mission, this denial of timely access was only the most conspicuous recent episode in a brutally calculated campaign to disrupt, harass, and impede humanitarian assistance—a campaign that has defined Khartoum’s Darfur policy for the past three years. Here we must bear in mind that the deliberate interference with and attacks upon humanitarian assistance long defined National Islamic Front war policy in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains. And there are increasing signs that this savagely destructive military policy is already at work in eastern Sudan in response to the growing insurgency on the part of the Beja Congress and the Rashaida Free Lions (the “Eastern Front”).

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At the same time that officials in Khartoum were denying Jan Egeland access to Darfur, indeed even Sudanese air-space, the regime ordered the distinguished Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to leave Darfur immediately. This despite the fact that NRC has been the humanitarian coordinator for Kalma Camp, the largest of Darfur’s camps for displaced persons, home to almost 100,000 highly distressed civilians. Egeland gave a forthright explanation of the meaning of this utterly unjustified, and unexplained, expulsion:

“‘[NRC’s coordination role] is totally essential work in one of the most difficult conditions possible: Kalma camp with 100,000 Internally Displaced Persons [IDPs]. I fear now, with the Norwegian Refugee Council gone, there will be less protection for the IDPs, there will be deteriorating services, and many civilians will suffer.’” (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, April 5, 2006)