Official document fees too high: North Darfur displaced

The fees for official documents, such as a birth certificate or a national number, have become unaffordably high for the displaced in North Darfur, a camp sheikh said. The sheikh of the Fata Borno camp for the displaced in Kutum locality told Radio Dabanga that “the charges for official paper work” have risen to amounts the camp residents cannot possibly pay. “How can an average family of five pay these amounts? We are struggling daily to find enough money for our meals, let alone paying for paperwork.” According to the sheikh charges for a birth certificate in Kutum are niow SDG125 ($22), a nationality card SDG150 ($26), and an extract of the national number about SDG200 ($35).   At the end of September, students in El Malha locality in North Darfur staged demonstrations in protest against the “high fees” of SDG60 for a national number. File photo Related: Three secondary school students killed, 25 injured in North Darfur (29 September 2013)