‘Displaced farmers, new settlers’ clash in West Darfur

A man was killed in a clash in El Geneina locality in West Darfur on Sunday. The fight reportedly broke out between displaced people returning home and new settlers in the area.

El Tahir Omar Hashim was killed and 17 others were injured near Karti village, 5 km north of El Geneina. One of the victims’ relatives reported that paramilitary troops attacked a group of displaced people who had voluntarily returned from camps in El Geneina.

“The new the settlers prevented some displaced people from cultivating the farmland in Karti,” the relative told Radio Dabanga. When displaced people in camps in El Geneina heard the news, they moved towards Karti by vehicle.

“There a group of Rapid Support Forces fighters intercepted their way and told them not to go to Karti, and return to El Geneina.” The quarrel resulted in the militiamen shooting the displaced people, and the wounding of El Tahir Omar Hashim, Osman El Tahir Sharif and El Tayeb Hashim. 15 other people were beaten with sticks. El Tahir succumbed to his injuries later, while Osman and El Tayeb are being treated in the hospital in El Geneina. The other wounded have been discharged.

Voluntary return is one of the options which the Sudanese government gives to the people in Darfur who have been displaced by the armed conflict that erupted in 2003. Khartoum plans to transform the camps into residential areas, or integrate them into existing towns.