Deadline to vacate South Darfur camp centre extended by two weeks

The Governor of South Darfur has extended the deadline for the evacuation of Centre 4 of the Otash camp for the displaced for another two weeks. About 520 families will have to leave their shelters.

Radio Dabanga reported on Friday that the South Darfur authorities had given the inhabitants of Centre 4 less than a week to vacate it before it would be dismantled.

The spokesman for the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Association, Hussein Abusharati, told this station that a Land Cruiser mounted with a Dushka machine gun drove into the camp on Thursday afternoon. “It moved through the camp using a loudspeaker, calling on the displaced to evacuate the camp by 22 February, without specifying an alternative place for the displaced to live.”

Abusharati stated that 14,000 displaced would have to leave their shelters. This number was corrected however by the head of Centre 4, Sheikh Hassan Suleiman, on Sunday. He said that about 520 families will have to vacate the area.

School

The Commissioner of Nyala North locality, Ismail Yahya, told Radio Dabanga on Sunday that in a meeting with Governor Adam El Faki, the displaced agreed to move to a new location allocated by the state. As of Sunday, a committee in which the displaced will be represented will review the exact number of families that are supposed to leave within two weeks. 

The land of Centre 4 belongs to the El Wafa Basic School for Girls. The classes are currently being hosted by the El Walid Basic School for Boys.

“El Wafa Basic School is one of the 19 schools to be built based on a grant from the World Bank, under the supervision of the federal Ministry of Education,” the commissioner explained.

He said that a delegation headed by the federal Minister of Education has recently visited South Darfur, and required the delivery of the vacated land by the 21th of this month.

Area

Sheikh Suleiman, Head of Centre 4, told Radio Dabanga that “the school to be built is quite small compared to the now inhabited area.

“We have asked all visitors last week, the South Darfur authorities, members of the state Humanitarian Aid Commission, security agents, as well as Unamid officials, why the entire Centre 4 has to be vacated. No one could give us a convincing answer.”