Almost exactly a month ago, we were expelled from Darfur. Since then we have spent most days trying to get in touch with friends and colleagues there, hoping to find out what is happening in the communities which we had to leave behind. The reports we are getting from the camps are increasingly alarming.

Over the past six years, people living in the camps have been bombed, raped, robbed and forced from their homes. They have been through suffering that I cannot even imagine, and have had to rely on aid agencies for basics like food, water and shelter. Now even that is being taken from them.

Zam Zam camp in North Darfur has virtually doubled in size in the past two months. 36,000 people have arrived there since the end of January, fleeing fighting between government and rebels.

They are homeless, hungry and desperate, and urgently in need of help. Many are women and children.

Helping so many new arrivals would always be an enormous challenge, but with many of the biggest aid agencies now gone it is going to be nearly impossible.

As a result, these families are not receiving the food and water they need.

In Kalma camp in South Darfur, the situation is even more serious. The entire camp, which shelters 90,000 people, has not received any aid in weeks.

Feeding centres for malnourished children are running out of food. Water pumps have run out of fuel and stopped working. A meningitis outbreak has killed at least two people - there may be more but aid workers are no longer there to confirm it.

The community leaders in Kalma - known as Sheikhs - are refusing to allow the government or any local aid agencies into the camp, and are demanding that the expelled agencies are allowed to return.

The situation is increasingly desperate and I hope, for the sake of the people there, that the stand-off can be resolved soon.

I can understand the community's fears. The government has persecuted people in Kalma for years.

Last August, government police entered the camp one morning and shot 32 people dead. Local officials have repeatedly said that they want to close the camp down and force everyone to move.

Since the International Criminal Court made its announcement a month ago, they say numerous young men from Kalma have been arrested. The community is scared of letting the government in to replace the aid agencies, but nevertheless something must be done to allow aid to reach the community, or we could see a major disaster.

All over Darfur, the question of how to fill the gaps left by the expulsion has not been answered yet.

Many of the local organisations are perceived by the people in the camps as being affiliated to the same government which drove them from their homes in the first place. There are independent local organisations, many of which do incredible work - but most are small and cannot possibly take over projects helping hundreds of thousands of people.

Some international aid agencies remain, but they are already stretched to the limit. Some may be keen to scale up their presence in Darfur - but the infamous Sudanese government bureaucracy means that will take months, while people continue to suffer.

Already some agencies have expressed interest in expanding their work, only to be refused by National Security officials. It makes a mockery of the government's claims that we can all be easily and quickly replaced.

The impact of the expulsions is already being felt in camps like Kalma and Zam Zam. But there are also growing fears about the coming months.

The annual rainy season is approaching. I was in Darfur for last year's rains and saw peoples' flimsy shelters destroyed by floods. Water-borne diseases like cholera and malaria can spread quickly at this time of year.

In previous years, aid agencies have conducted enormous health campaigns to help reduce this. This year, these are unlikely to happen. My old Sudanese colleagues who remain in Darfur fear that there are real risks of a major outbreak of disease.

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.