DRA workshop disappoints West Darfur displaced

The displaced people of the West Darfur camps have criticised the outcome of a workshop on security and social peace organised from 23 to 25 January by the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) in El Geneina. One of the sheikhs of the camps told Radio Dabanga that a delegation representing the camp residents, participated in the three-day workshop. The delegation brought in written issues that were discussed during the workshop, including abolishment of “blood money” randomly imposed by militias on the displaced, a stop on early grazing for livestock of pastoralists, expulsion of new settlers, disarmament of the militias, and the resolution of lawlessness in the state. The sheikh said that the displaced were surprised to discover that the issues they had brought in were all omitted in the final recommendations of the workshop. Instead they found recommendations included on matters not discussed during the workshop, such as that West Darfur is a most stable state and has deterred all the armed rebel movements. File photo: A car window broken in an attack by militiamen (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related: DRA security workshop concludes in West Darfur (27 January 2014)