North Darfur students hand memorandum to Sudanese parliament

Hundreds of members of the Saraf Omra Students’ Association staged a peaceful protest in front of the Sudan’s Houses Parliament in Khartoum on Tuesday, against the recent attacks on civilians in Saraf Omra, North Darfur. The students handed a memorandum to the Deputy Speaker of the National Council, a spokesman for the Saraf Omra Students’ Association told Radio Dabanga. The students urgently demand the formation of a committee, to investigate the facts of what happened in the area of ​​Saraf Omra, to record all “the full crimes committed”, and to persecute the offenders. The memorandum calls on the Sudanese government to immediately provide security by sending troops to protect the citizens in the area. The Saraf Omra students also address the humanitarian organisations working in Darfur to provide aid, especially water, to the affected people. On Sunday, the Saraf Omra students had handed a letter to the General Sudanese Students’ Union, to the National Commission for Human Rights in Sudan, and to the Humanitarian Aid Commission. In the letters the students denounce the violence against the citizens of Saraf Omra, “the killing, looting, and the massive displacement”, the students’ spokesman added. “We expressed our complete rejection of the targeting of civilians in Saraf Omra. Many basic and secondary school students in the area are now displaced. There are students who have lost their homes, and even their families. The people who sought refuge in the vicinity of the Saraf Omra Unamid base are in dire need of water and food. We called on the concerned authorities to immediately intervene to help these innocent people, the vulnerable women and children.” Photo: Darfuri students and their colleagues starting their protest march at the University of Khartoum, 11 March 2014 (Radio Dabanga) Related: ‘Limited riots at university’: Khartoum police (12 March 2014) One dies as troops fire on Darfuri students in Khartoum (11 March 2014)