Displaced given days to vacate South Darfur camp

The Commissioner of Nyala locality in South Darfur has given the residents of Centre 4 of Otash camp near the state capital less than a week to vacate it before it is dismantled.

The spokesman for the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Association, Hussein Abusharati, told Radio Dabanga that a Land Cruiser mounted with a Dushka machine gun drove into the camp on Thursday afternoon. “It moved through the camp using a loudspeaker, calling on the displaced to evacuate the camp by February 22, without specifying an alternative place for the 14,000 displaced to live.”

The Association denounced the commissioner’s decision and held government responsible for the implementation of the decision. It renewed its refusal to dismantle the camp, and conditioned the return of displaced persons to their home by provision of security and stability in their villages.

‘Dire consequences’

Abusharati warned of “dire consequences should the decision be implemented by force”. He called on state government “to cancel the decision so as to preserve the lives and property of the displaced”.

He urged the residents of Centre 4 to approach Unamid should the commissioner order the camp to be forcibly evacuated.

He called on Unamid, the international community, and human rights organisations to protect the displaced of camp Otash “so that there will not be a repeat of the massacre that occurred at Kalma camp in 2008”. Abusharati was referring to an infamous incident in August 2008 when police attempted to enter Kalma campo by force, leaving 36 displaced people dead.