Darfuri students arrested at Khartoum fees sit-in

Five Darfuri students at El Zaim El Azhari University in Khartoum North were arrested on Sunday and Tuesday following a sit-in to demand exception from tuition fees.

The five, who include the head of the Darfur Students’ Association, Maawiya Ahmed, participated in a sit-in concerning the university’s refusal to exempt Darfuri students from tuition fees in accordance with the Darfur peace agreements.

On Thursday the police released 10 Darfuri students of El Zaim El Azhari University after they were first arrested by the security services on Monday and handed over later on the same day to Bahri police station.

On Tuesday a student told Radio Dabanga that the police released five students at midnight on Monday while the other five students were released after being charged with causing a riot at the university on Tuesday

On Monday security forces arrested about 20 Darfuri students at the University because of the university students’ entering into an open-ended sit-in on Sunday and Monday.

One of the students told Radio Dabanga that a security force raided the Darfuri students after they left the university, arrested about 20 of them and took them to Bahri police station.

The student said the university administration committed at the beginning of the school year to exempt the Darfuri students from payment of tuition fees, but issued a statement a month ago that obliged students to pay which prompted the Darfuri students to enter into an open-ended sit-in on Sunday and Monday.