Darfur Regional Authority highlights plight of Nyala displaced

The Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) has described the situation of the newly displaced at the Nyala camps as “miserable”, confirming the severe challenges that thousands of people must endure every day. Thousands of displaced eprsons are living in a very difficult situation in the peripheries of the camps and that the response to their urgent needs of food, medicine, water and shelter is “very slow and below expectations”. In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Azahari Shatta, the DRA Commissioner for voluntary return and resettlement said that a delegation had paid field visits to the camps for displaced persons in Nyala. “The conditions of newly displaced persons are very difficult and the situation in the camps very painful,” he said, adding that they at the DRA have agreed to make every effort possible to provide food, medicine, shelter and water to those displaced. “This is the responsibility of the State, represented by the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC),” he underlined, saying that his Authority have directed an appeal to organisations as well as accompanying them on their visits to the camps, where they promised to provide emergency relief. “Our role as a regional authority is to appeal to the concerned authorities that there is an urgent need for provision of urgent relief, but so far the response is slow and below expectations,” Shatta concluded. Famine warning Shatta announced a coordination between the state authorities and local communities to secure areas near the camps for returnees for agriculture to allow the displaced to farm and harvest what they have planted in the rainy season this year. He lamented the shortage of troops for security, but stressed that the DRA has committed to provide partial aid such as fuel, vehicle repairs, and to increase the number of personnel. “If people do not return to the agricultural season, and if there is no security in the areas of agriculture, a famine would be expected to occur next year in Darfur; because most of the productive workforce is now overcrowded into cities and camps. Stakeholders must be aware and understand the importance of the people’s need to utilise the current agricultural cycle, so as to avoid a gap with Darfur being subjected to a disaster all over again.” Intimidation Shatta has admitted that there are real provocations, insults and intimidations against those returning for agriculture. He stressed to Radio Dabanga that security is not the direct responsibility of the DRA, but pointed out that it’s the responsibility of states and local authorities. “The Doha Document for Peace in Darfur has created a Security Commission for the region with a mandate to overcome the security disorders, instabilities and the ongoing tribal wars in Darfur. “Efforts now under way in this regard and we hope they will bear fruit soon and be reflected on the lives of the people in Darfur,” he concluded. File photoRelated: ‘Taha pledges to strengthen and assist Darfur forces and displaced’: Sese (1 July 2013)