PM Hamdok hears five key demands from Darfur displaced

Leaders of the camps for displaced people in Darfur have put five key demands to Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok after his first visit to the region on Monday.

Sheikh Mohamed Ishag, head of the camp leaders, told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday that the displaced demanded five items to be enforced by the government of Hamdok.

“First and foremost, we need security in Darfur, including all the camps in the region. The second item is the disarmament of the janjaweed militias, and all people carrying illegal weapons in Darfur,” he said.

“The third item concerns the hawakeer (lands traditionally used by a particular tribal group) and land taken from the displaced people.”

The sheikh explained that the fourth item is the provision of individual and collective compensation to the displaced and refugees. “The fifth item is the need to surrender Omar Al Bashir and the other wanted persons to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in addition to bringing all others accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur and all areas of Sudan to justice.”

He invited PM Hamdok to visit all other camps in Darfur.

West Darfur

According to Sheikh Nour Mohamed, senior leader of the West Darfur camps for displaced people, the most prominent demands voiced by displaced people are the disarmament of the janjaweed, the expulsion of the new settlers from their villages and lands, in addition to the reconstruction of those villages that have been destroyed, and the provision of individual and collective compensation to the displaced and refugees.

The camp leader told this station from the state capital of El Geneina that achieving justice is a necessary condition and that the implementation of the rest of the demands is a necessary and priority to resolve the issues of the displaced and return to their villages.

“Justice must be achieved by bringing those accused of war crimes, genocide, murder, displacement and rape to trial, and that Omar Al Bashir and the rest of the wanted men be handed over to the ICC in The Hague.”

North Darfur

On Monday, Hamdok visited El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, and the nearby Zamzam camp and Abu Shouk camp for the displaced.

In a televised interview in El Fasher on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok said that the transitional government will not rest until it reaches a final and categorical solution to address all issues of transitional justice and reach the satisfaction of the victims and feel themselves that justice has been achieved.

He said that his visit to the state of North Darfur raised hope that a new Sudan could be achieved and that happiness would be complete only by stopping the war.

He added that “during the past 30 years, there has been no greater and more beautiful prospects for peace like today, as there is a real desire for peace”.

Hamdok emphasised that the visions of the displaced and refugees will be included in the peace process.

Land issues

The Governor of North Darfur, Maj Gen Malik Khojali, called yesterday to stop registering land in conflict areas in the state until conflicts concerning land  are settled.

In this regard, the governor called on native administration leaders “to continue to play your historic role in maintaining social relations and contribute effectively in addressing land issues”.

In the opening session of the Darfur Land Conference organised by the Darfur Land Commission in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in El Fasher on Wednesday, the governor stressed the right of people displaced by the war to return safely to their areas of origin, rebuild their lives, and live in peace.

In this regard, he directed the Land Registry Department and other competent authorities to reduce the land registration fee to a reasonable extent that would enable farmers to register and legalise their agricultural land.