A senior United Nations official said here Monday that the situation in the western Sudanese regionof Darfur is still troublesome.

"There is a protection crisis in Darfur today, in terms of us not being able to adequately protect displaced civilian population" in the region, Dennis McNamara, special advisor to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on Displacement, told reporters in Nairobi.

"There remains constant regular pressure, sometimes harassment,by the authorities in various locations in Darfur, on displaced populations to go back to insecure villages," he added.

Sexual violence and rape against women and girls is another major issue that challenges the region, McNamara said, citing a girl of seven incredibly reported as a rape victim there.

However, "there is no functioning national justice system in Darfur at present, which means persecutors of sexual violence are not prosecuted by the courts," he said.

"That's the pretty gloomy pictures (in Darfur)," McNamara said,urging the government of Sudan "to take more effective and preventive measures in the region."

A UN Security Council deadline expired on Sunday which asked the Sudanese government to ensure the safety of more than one million people who have been driven from their homes by militia attacks. The world body is due to discuss the issue this week.

Source: Xinhua