As the international community debates
who should protect displaced people in the Darfur region of Sudan, attacks
on the camps where many seek refuge -- some run by Christian Aid partners
-- continue unabated.
Civilians in Darfur continue to face
daily assault from bandits and Sudanese government-backed militias. Each
day women are raped and families are intimidated and robbed.
According to the UN, fighting is continuing in the region, where rebels are trying to take Golo, a government-held town in western Darfur,
The fighting has forced around 100 aid workers to flee, the BBC has reported.
There are also clashes in south Darfur, near Shearia.
Aid agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to help the more than two million people who have fled their homes in the face of this violence.
The new head of the African Union, Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso, has insisted that the AU should retain control of the peacekeeping operation in Darfur.
But many commentators believe that African Union (AU) troops are unable to perform their role of protecting the people of Darfur.
Christian Aid argues that there are too few AU troops with insufficient resources, supported by a mandate that leaves the Sudanese government responsible for the security and safety of its population.
Yet the reality is, it is argued, that most of these attacks are taking place with the blessing of the Sudanese government -- an accusation denied by Khartoum.
However, there have recently been attacks by the government-backed militia, the Janajaweed in the Mershing camp in south Darfur.
The peacekeeping troops of the African Union had promised to protect these camps last autumn. Armed Sudanese police are also located in the area.
But neither these troops nor the police were able to stop these latest attacks. Around 90% of the people from Mershing's eight camps, which hold 35,000 people, have fled and are understood to be sleeping in the open without water nor security.
Christian Aid's partner, the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO), has a clinic in Mershing; all employees have been forced to leave the camp.
As the situation deteriorates, debates are taking place as to whether the operation in Darfur should become a United Nations mission or remain under an AU mandate.
'This discussion is immaterial', said Stephanie Brigden, of Christian Aid's Africa policy team.
'The question ought not be who will protect the people of Darfur, but how? We need a proper mandate that gives greater emphasis on protecting civilians -- not a mandate that concentrates on documenting breeches of a fast-failing ceasefire.
'The mission must also be better resourced, logistically, financially and with more troops, to implement a proper protection mandate.'
The Darfur rebellion started in 2003, with groups saying the region's black African population was being ignored by the central government.
Pro-government militias then launched reprisals against the civilian populations, forcing some two million to flee their homes.
Sudan's government has denied backing the militias and has accused western nations, such as the US, of exaggerating the problems in Darfur for political reasons.