Darfuri people hope for peace in 2018

On the occasion of the New Year, the displaced people in Darfur have appealed to the international community to pay attention to what is happening in their region and help them to achieve peace and stability. In South Darfur, members of Sudan’s main government militia have extorted money from the families of four camp residents.

The displaced in Darfur urge the United Nations, its Security Council, and “all with a human conscience to bring justice to the people of Sudan, and the displaced in Darfur in particular,” El Shafee Abdallah, leading member of the Darfur Camps Coordination Committee and coordinator of the Central Darfur camps for the displaced told Radio Dabanga.

Abdallah said the Darfuris hope 2018 will be a year of restored freedom, justice, and a genuine and comprehensive secure situation in Sudan.

“We wish that all displaced people will be able to return to their place of origin in peace,” he told Radio Dabanga. “And that the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and genocide, including President Omar Al Bashir may be arrested, and brought to trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

Extortion

Paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces seized four displaced men from the Dar El Salam camp for the displaced in South Darfur's Gireida on Friday.

Zakariya Ishag, his brother Yagoub, Daoud Adam, and Zakariya Obeid were released on Saturday morning, after negotiations between the RSF and the victims’ relatives, led by agents of the security apparatus.

A camp sheikh told this station that the RSF troops robbed Yagoub Ishag of SDG 30,000 ($4,300), and Adam and Obeid each of about SDG 10,000 ($1,420).