Coordinator denies Darfur’s displaced return after peace deal

There are conflicting reports about the return of dozens of displaced families after the announcement of the Korona peace agreement in the Jebel Marra region.

The Governor of Central Darfur, Jaafar Abdelhakam, announced that 80 families (approximately 320-400 people) have returned from the camps for displaced people to their villages in the area of Korona in western Jebel Marra, after he signed a peace agreement with prominent dissidents of the rebel SLM-AW.

The contents of the agreement have not been made available, yet, the agreement covers Korona area, south of Golo in western Jebel Marra. Korona is close to Surreng, which witnessed heavy clashes before the Sudanese army captured it from the rebels in April.

A Central Darfur camps coordinator has described the remarks of the Governor as lies, “with the purpose of polishing himself to the central government”.

“No people have left the camps to return to their areas of origin in Jebel Marra,” cooridnator El Shafie Abdallah told Radio Dabanga yesterday. He reported that people have recently arrived from Golol, Boldong, Dorto, and Kilti in the Jebel Marra mountain range.

“There is a genuine suffering among the displaced people in Central Darfur's camps,” he stressed. For six months, a number of camp residents have not received food rations since the beginning of their registration process.

El Shafie pointed to the failure of the agricultural season, mainly because of repeated attacks on farmers by herdsmen who let their cattle graze on the farms, and the absence of a supervisory role of the government.

He added that there are about 42 children under the age of 17 who have been separated from their parents, and live in the camps without access to education or family care.