Abu Tira abduct Chadian refugees in Central Darfur

“Abu Tira” abducted two Chadian refugees from the Um Shalaya refugee camp in Azum locality, Central Darfur on Monday evening, and have threatened the camp’s residents, reportedly to extort a payment from them for a killed animal. Wardi Bahar, representative for the Um Shalaya camp, told Radio Dabanga that five members of the Central Reserve Forces (Abu Tira) riding five motorcycles came to the camp at 5pm. They remained there until 9.30pm and then searched the camp from house to house. Eventually, they kidnapped Issa Ahmed Arbab (33) who is a butcher in the camp, and sheikh Abdel Karim Isaac (52) from inside their homes and took them to an unknown destination. Representative Bahar expected the reason behind the kidnapping to be that Abra bought a cow from the market last December, of which a person called Azraq last week claimed to be the owner of. As the cow was already slaughtered and divided among camp residents, Azraq demanded SDG10,000 ($1,740) as payment for the cow, and threatened to kill the residents and burn the camp if they did not pay. “The refugees paid Azraq, but he returned a day later, expecting a refund of another ten thousand pounds for his travel costs and time he spent looking for his cow”, Bahar explained. The refugees then reported the blackmailer to the police. Azraq and his followers threatened the police officer with death when he visited the camp a day later. On Monday, the Abu Tira abducted Arbab and sheikh Isaac. They made clear that they will not be released unless the debt is paid. Bahar demanded from the authorities to rescue the refugees and bring the kidnappers to justice. File photo: Chadian refugees load their luggage onto a truck which will transport them to Um Shalaya camp (UNHCR) Related: UNHCR resettles Chadian refugees in Central Darfur (27 December 2013)