Anger escalates over Sudan’s plans to dismantle camps

The reactions of the displaced have continued to escalate following the announcement by the Second Vice President, Second Vice-President Hassabo Abdelrahman, that all camps will be dismantled in 2016.

The displaced of the camps in Darfur have demanded the causes of the problems be solved first, before agreeing to the government’s option of dismantling the camps.

Omda Ahmed Ateem, coordinator of North Darfur camps, told Radio Dabanga that “now is not the time for the government’s option of dismantling the camps”.

He said “the regime has committed crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing. It must be removed first.” He asserts that all the camps are under the responsibility of the UN. “The UN has a right to act and not the government.”

Ateem holds the UN Security Council responsible for protecting the camps. “The displaced will not accept deadline of the 50 days Abdelrahman has announced; not even a deadline of 50 years.”

He renewed his call to the UN Security Council to play their role in protecting the IDPs and the implementation of Security Council resolutions in connection with Darfur.

The displaced of Central Darfur camps have also refused the government’s plans of re-planning and voluntary return. The Coordinator of the Central Darfur camps told Radio Dabanga that the process of dismantling the camps is the government’s declaration of war and genocide again through starvation and forced displacement.

He said the villages from which they have been displaced are now occupied by new settlers.

He asserted that “the government’s move to dismantle the camps should be seen in the context of transferring the ownership of the displaced people’s lands to the new settlers”.