Detentions among students evicted from dorms

University students who refused to leave their dorms during the holiday season were detained by police or forcibly evacuated in Kassala and North Kordofan in the past days.

Police in New Halfa locality in Kassala detained 30 students on the grounds that they did not comply to restrictions of the Student Support Fond, which ordered the eviction of the student dormitories for maintenance.

Most of the detained students are from Darfur and study at the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kassala, a number of students reported to Radio Dabanga. “They are unable to travel to their relatives in Darfur during the holiday because of high travel costs,” one of them said.

The students were still being held in detention on Thursday afternoon.

Holidays

University housing administrations in Sudanese states typically insist on expelling the students from their dormitories during holidays and festivals. Students complained about the treatment and how they do not have the money to travel to their home areas or relatives.

In El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, members of the police and security forces enforced an eviction of students in a boarding house of the University of Kordofan on Thursday. Several of the expelled students told this station that the forces raided the house and sent away “dozens of students”.

“They mostly come from Darfur, but they can't travel home for the annual holiday. It's too expensive.” The Student Support Fund made the decision for the eviction, according to a student.

“Students currently are out on the streets of El Obeid, without a place for shelter.”

Excessive force

Sudanese authorities are accused of using excessive force against students this month, in a report last month by the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS).

The ACJPS points to a police raid of a student residence at Bakht El Rida University in White Nile state on 9 May, and the dispersion of a public forum at the El Zaeem El Azhari University in Khartoum North by agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and a student militia six days later.

“The attacks on the students are extremely disruptive and raise serious concerns regarding the students’ safe access to higher education,” the Centre states.