April 9, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Aid officials, journalists, and governments have been sounding the alarm about the consequences of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s decision last month to oust from Darfur 13 relief organizations.
Michael Kleinman, a former aid worker and a blogger for Change.org, has been among those writing and talking about how the humanitarian situation in Darfur will fall apart without the groups’ assistance.
But he’s now asking on his blog, What if things don’t, actually, get any worse?
“The situation in some areas has certainly deteriorated,” he says. “But all in all it wasn’t the Darfuri end of days.”
“I still do think the situation will get worse – but, at the same time, beginning to admit that I have no idea,” Mr. Kleinman continues. “Maybe it won’t. Maybe the heroic efforts of the U.N. and other NGOs to fill the gap will actually work.”
And he wonders what, if conditions in camps stabilize, that says “about the conflict, or about the role of NGOs?”
“Does it mean things aren’t quite as bad as we thought?” asks Mr. Kleinman. “Does it mean perhaps we weren’t quite as essential as we thought?”
What do you think of Mr. Kleinman’s questions?
