UNITED NATIONS, May 6 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian chief John Holmes kicked off a five-day trip to Sudan Wednesday to assess relief programs in the south of the African country and its war-stricken Darfur region.

    Holmes, Under-Secretary General for humanitarian affairs, will review living conditions for the local populations in areas affected by the expulsions of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7million have been forced from their homes since 2003.

    Aid agencies are particularly concerned about the situation in Darfur since Khartoum expelled 13 international NGOs and revoked the permits of three local groups after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant on March 4 for President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    Before arriving in Darfur, Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, is slated to travel to southern Sudan on Friday, where he will meet UN humanitarian officials and representatives from the government of southern Sudan.