Darfuri refugees in Libya deported to Khartoum

Arrested are accused of having links with JEM and supporting the Gadhafi regime in Libya

17 Darfuri refugees were arrested along the Sudan-Libya border and deported to prisons in Khartoum, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said on Monday.Jibril Adam Bilal, spokesperson of the JEM told Radio Dabanga, “Security authorities have tortured these Darfuris and accused them of being mercenaries for the Gadhafi regime in Libya as well as belonging to JEM.”

Bilal clarified that the arrested refugees had no links with the JEM or any other resistance movements in Darfur, for that matter. “These are people who have been living in Libya for decades. This is a plot against them,” Bilal told Radio Dabanga.

The recent fall of the Gadhafi regime in Tripoli has given rise to speculation that Dr Khalil Ibrahim, the head of the JEM who is currently held in Libya, is likely to cross over the border to Sudan. This has led to increased presence of border patrol in the region.