Oxfam has been expelled from the Darfur region of Sudan.

The Sudanese government has revoked the Oxford-based charity’s licence in the area following the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for the country’s president, Omar al-Bashir.

The charity intends to appeal.

Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s international director, said: “It will affect more than 600,000 Sudanese people whom we provide with vital humanitarian and development aid, including clean water and sanitation on a daily basis.

“400,000 of them are affected by the ongoing conflict in Darfur – where people continue to flee from violence and the humanitarian needs remain enormous. It will also affect another 200,000 poor people in the east of the country and Khartoum state.”

Oxfam has operated in northern Sudan since 1983 and currently has 450 staff there, 90 per cent of whom are Sudanese.