Darfur displaced appeal to Unamid for protection from militias

Kassab camp for the displaced in the locality of Kutum in North Darfur has reportedly witnessed a series of attacks by militias within the past few weeks. Residents have called in Unamid to provide protection for them. A female activist from the camp told Radio Dabanga that 25 sheep and about ten mobile phones were stolen at gunpoint in August. Camp resident Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed was shot in the legs. During an attempted rape of a group of women cultivating their lands, one of them was seriously injured.The most recent incident has been the assault by militiamen, of camp resident Siddig Adam inside his house and subsequent robbery of his properties. The activist attributed the deteriorating security situation in the region to the absence of the Sudanese police, since last year when the responsibility for peacekeeping was transferred from the police to the Sudanese Armed Forces. “The army does not persecute the perpetrators nor does it work to protect the displaced”. She added that the Unamid forces are restricted to registering complaints and reporting only: “They do not make any effort to protect the displaced.”She also confirmed that the deteriorating security situation has affected their economic lives, since it has become sheer impossible for the displaced to leave the camp for farming, collecting firewood and grass. The activist appealed to the UN and humanitarian organisations for protection and to Unamid for running day and night patrols. In Mershing locality, South Darfur, a group of eight militiamen on four motorcycles on Saturday drove into Toom Kitir/Hashaba camp for the displaced and terrorised the residents by firing dense shots into the air. One of the sheikhs of the camp said that the police forces stationed near the camp did not intervene and he appealed to the local authorities to persecute the perpetrators. In an interview with Radio Dabanga last week, Joint Special Representative of Unamid, Mohamed Ibn Chambas acknowledged the deteriorating security situation in the region, pledging that “we will do our level best, because this is one of our core mandates, to provide protection for civilians”. File Photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related: Seven displaced assaulted, robbed near Mukjar, Central Darfur (15 September 2013) Exclusive: Unamid head pleads for ‘lasting peace in Darfur’ (4 September 2013) Militiamen threaten to torch Darfur camp: Sheikh (3 September 2013)