Refugees express concerns over voluntary repatriation initiative

Refugees from the Eastern Chad camps commented on the Voluntary Repatriation initiative signed between the Sudanese government, the Chadian government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Khartoum on Wednesday. The refugees refused the offer to go back to their original area, saying that the lack of security and ongoing fights throughout Darfur made the journey too dangerous to be taken. They also added that they migrated to Chad in order to escape the repeated attacks on civilians by the government and associated militias, as well as their occupation of their land, a situation they consider still unresolved up to this point. SAF spokesperson Dr Mohammad Ahmad Aghbash explained during a press conference in Khartoum that the repatriation of the refugees would be divided in 3 phases: diffusion of information on the planned measures through the media to reassure the concerned population, registration for the operation should they be willing to return and finally planning the repatriation according to the number of people wishing to return to Sudan. The refugees in Chad are not the only ones to have expressed their concerns over the repatriation measures: IDPS from the Gedo region reported earlier this week that several families were found in a critical health state after trying to return to their homes, pointing out the lack of assistance provided by the authorities to assist them through the dangerous journey.