To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of new arrivals at the internally displaced persons camps in southern Darfur in the last six months; and what assessment he has made of the effects on the capacity of those camps to meet the basic needs of their residents of such arrivals.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 100,000 people have been assessed as newly displaced within South Darfur in the last six months. A further 49,000 have been displaced from South Darfur to other states within Darfur. Most of these have arrived in designated IDP camps.

In the wake of the expulsion of 13 international NGOs and dissolution of three national NGOs on 4 March 2009, a UN-Government of Sudan mission assessed the capacity of service providers in the major camps across Darfur. It concluded that due to gap-filling measures taken by the UN and other agencies, an immediate crisis had been averted, but that urgent action was needed to ensure that IDPs received life-saving services in the medium term. We are working with the Government of Sudan, the UN, other international agencies, the remaining NGOs and implementing partners to ensure that the necessary capacity is in place.