A/HRC/6/19 page 16 41. With regard to the implementation of the joint communiqué, the United Nations reported in November that progress had been made in its implementation and, in general, a good working relationship between international non-governmental organizations and the Humanitarian Aid Commission of the Government of the Sudan had developed in addressing bureaucratic procedures in Darfur. Regarding visas for humanitarian workers, the Government assured the group of experts that it did not have a single case of pending visa applications. At the same time, the group learned that the United Nations had received complaints alleging violations of the letter and spirit of the joint communiqué, in particular that the Government had refused to extend visas for some non-governmental organization expatriate staff to remain in the country. The United Nations reported in November that only 29 per cent of the total procedures handled by the joint procedures centre had been resolved on schedule. In late August 2007, the Government of the Sudan expelled the Country Director of CARE, Paul Barker, and in early November, the head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for South Darfur, Wael al-Haj Ibrahim. Mr. Ibrahim was reported to be the eleventh aid worker expelled from the Sudan since the beginning of 2007. The Government indicated that it had its own reasons for these expulsions. 42. In November, the United Nations reported that the rights and privileges of its staff members operating in Darfur were being increasingly disregarded. As regards attacks on humanitarian workers and their assets, the group notes reports by the United Nations that, while the number of incidents against humanitarian workers during the period from June to October 2007 (168 incidents) had dropped when compared with data for the months from June to October 2006 (214 incidents), the severity of these incidents appeared to have been much greater than in 2006. The following incidents relating to the security of humanitarian workers or their assets were reported to the United Nations between June and September 2007: 49 humanitarian vehicles hijacked/stolen; 32 humanitarian convoys attacked/ambushed/looted; 36 break-ins/damage of humanitarian premises; 11 humanitarian personnel arrested/detained; 48 humanitarian personnel kidnapped/abducted; 3 humanitarian personnel killed. In October 2007, 7 humanitarian workers were killed, 10 humanitarian vehicles hijacked and 7 convoys ambushed and looted. In particular, the security situation in Nyala town and some of the surrounding camps of internally displaced persons (South Darfur) has deteriorated significantly in recent months. Compared to August, incidents involving United Nations and international non-governmental organization staff increased 100 per cent in September 2007. While some of the reported incidents can be attributed to non-signatories to the Abuja peace agreement, authorship in other cases remains unclear. According to United Nations sources, the number of reported attacks on humanitarian workers and goods in Darfur by Government forces, the SLA/MM or militia allied with the Government fell from 29 for the period from June to October 2006, to 9 for the same months in 2007. 43. The group received information that humanitarian services continued to be provided to the vast majority of conflict-affected civilians. The World Food Programme, for example, provided food to an average of 3.2 million people during the third quarter of 2007. However, the number of beneficiaries not reached rose from 60,000 in July to 122,000 in September. This was reportedly due to increased insecurity in general and, in several cases, to governmental intervention. Thus, in Nertiti (Jebel Marra), the Government Security Committee suspended all humanitarian movement into the SLA-AW-controlled areas of Golol and Kwilla as from 16 August 2007, officially for security concerns. As a consequence, a rapid increase in malnutrition in many areas in the Zalingei Corridor, including Nertiti, was reported.