More than 1,000 Darfuri displaced attend Kalma conference

The Association of Displaced People and Refugees of Darfur organised a conference at Kalma camp, near to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, from 27 to 30 December. The coordinator of the Central Darfur camps and member of the Association told Radio Dabanga that the conference was attended by 1,013 people from various camps for the displaced in Darfur. The conference discussed three main items: the humanitarian situation in the Darfur camps, security, and the roots of the problem, the coordinator reported. Those who attended discussed the conditions for a solution, pointing to the fact that the signatories of the Darfur peace agreements solely concentrate on security arrangements and the problems arising from the displacement. Instead, they should tackle how to provide security, how to disarm the militias, and how to bring war criminals and those accused of genocide to justice. Arrangements for individual and collective compensation should be a point of discussion. With compensation received, and security restored, the displaced could return to their places of origin. The forced transferral of civilians to the so-called ‘safe villages’ should also be halted. The camp coordinator reported that the conference demanded a change in Unamid’s authority to a full mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, in order to make the mission capable of protecting the displaced people, the civilians, humanitarian organisations, and themselves in Darfur. A ban on military flights (no-fly zone) is required in order to stop the aerial bombardments of Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile. The conference also demanded the return of the aid organisations that have been expelled from Darfur by the Sudanese government. The participants called on the World Food Programme to return the system of complete rations for each displaced person. They stressed the displaced people’s dire need for food, water, and medicines. The conference further recommended that there should be no dialogue or negotiations with the ‘Khartoum regime’ in order to resolve the issues of Darfur and Sudan. Negotiations could take place with a new government after the current regime dominated by the National Congress Party has been toppled. All delegates rejected the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur. At the same time they denounced the international silence to what is happening in Darfur and called on all Darfuri tribes not to fight each other but put their energy into the toppling of the ‘Khartoum regime’. The coordinator of the Central Darfur camps added that the conference recommended the unification of all Darfur camps for the displaced, the refugee camps in Chad, and the one in the Central African Republic, under the umbrella of the Association of Displaced People and Refugees of Darfur.  File photo: Displaced women and children in Darfur (Albert González Farran / Unamid) Related: Association of Displaced condemns killing of Darfur peacekeepers (31 December 2013)  South Darfur camp residents refuse DRA request to return to their villages (19 December 2013) DRA ready to implement Peace Document in Darfur, funds available: Sese (7 November 2013) Plans to close Nyala camps and house South Darfur displaced in ‘model villages’ (5 November 2013)