Governor Minawi: ‘Darfur camps are demilitarised zones’

The presence of weapons within the camps for the displaced in Darfur is unacceptable, as the camps are demilitarised zones, Governor Minni Arko Minawi of the Darfur region assured representatives of the camps for the displaced in Nyala, South Darfur, in an address on Monday. Governor Minawi also pledged to work to disarm the camps, calling on the displaced to cooperate. He also promised to form a committee to investigate complaints of crimes against displaced people, and to rain women police officers.

In his address, Minawi promised to hold a conference for the displaced, acknowledging that the suffering, the injustice, and violations committed against them is still continuing.

Minawi pledged to prevent injustice, violations with weapons, and assault on the rights of others. He promised to form a committee of advisors, legal and informal, to investigate complaints of displaced people in agriculture. and reports of violations in production areas, open complaints, and prosecute the perpetrators. He called for the formation of a committee of community leaders to stop the release of livestock on agricultural lands.

‘We will train women in the camps to become police officers through the security arrangements clause…’  – Minni Arko Minawi

“We will train women in the camps to become police officers through the security arrangements clause,” he added. Referring to fears dating from the time of the previous regime, that the displaced would be forced to return to their original lands, Minawi assured the representatives that “the camps will remain until the root causes for displacement have been eliminated”.

Minawi instructed the Secretary of the South Darfur government to sit with representatives of all the camps to discuss their problems within 72 hours, regarding the crimes that occur inside the camps, to open complaints, and arrest the perpetrators.

He declared his readiness “to support cooperative societies that would end unemployment, immigration, and delinquency”.

In a separate address during a meeting in the South Darfur capital with merchants and business representatives in on Tuesday, Minawi promised to open border trade and address the problems facing traders and businessmen, especially the problem of financing in banks. He also pledged to address the problems relating to the Sudanese Company for Mineral Resources, as well as the large numbers of homeless children roaming the markets.

He highlighted that that the Juba Peace Agreement includes broad aspects for traders and businessmen, as it set federal rules for the economy, adding that the agreement granted the regional government to make contracts with companies and countries to invest in the region according to sovereign and federal laws and to deal commercially with neighbouring countries.