Doha displaced, refugee conference to begin next week in Nyala, S Darfur

A Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) official announced the Nyala conference for displaced and refugees will take place next week in South Darfur’s capital. The conference is aimed at giving these people a voice prior to the Doha donors’ consultation for peace in Darfur scheduled for next month, a US official has previsously declared. Azhari Shatta, voluntary return and resettlement commissioner of the DRA, told Radio Dabanga in an interview the conference will take place next Monday and Tuesday, 25 and 26 March.During the interview, he denied having “suddenly announced the onset of the talks” and asserted arrangements for the conference were ongoing since it was last postponed in November because of the yellow fever epidemic across Darfur.“Organizers have remained busy preparing the conference until the federal ministry of health declared it could be held”, Shatta said.He noted the current timing is “suitable” and said that tribal clashes and ongoing battles in Darfur should not influence the talks or the voluntary return of displaced to their home-villages.“How long must we wait until guns stop and we begin the process of voluntary return, compensation and co-existence?”, he questioned. War and battles are not a justification for postponing the conference: “Even the contrary, we believe that the conference will reflect positively on the security situation in Darfur”, Shatta said.The talks will be attended by displaced and refugees, civil society organizations, leaders of the civil administration in Darfur, guests from the federal government, diplomats and UN agencies, according to the commissioner.Shatta disclosed the conference, held under the auspices of the Sudanese Vice-president Al Haj Adam Youssef, would contribute to pushing the Doha donors’ conference forward next month.Radio Dabanga file photoRelated: DRA postpones Nyala conference (7 November 2012)Ambassador Smith invites Darfuris for upcoming conference (8 October 2012)