Refugees in Chad decline to attend Doha peace ceremony

Sudanese refugees in the Chadian city of Abeche on Tuesday held a meeting with the foreign mediators of the Darfur conflict, the Qatari minister Al Mahmoud and the UN-African Union joint mediator Djibril Bassole. Refugee representatives from 11 camps, numbering 33 delegates in all, attended the meeting with the mediation team. They insisted that the peace deal should include all of the armed movements in a comprehensive deal. They said that a bilateral deal (only the LJM faction is currently at the negotiating table) would end up like the Abuja Agreement of 2006, which would only increase the suffering in Darfur and the complexity of the situation.The Darfur mediators are preparing a final peace document for signature between the government and the Liberation and Justice Movement. The document, if signed, would mark the culmination of nearly a year of talks with LJM rebels, who signed a ceasefire and framework agreement last March. Other factions are involved less formally in the Doha talks.

The refugee leaders requested that the mediators ensure that Darfur is restored to its former administrative status as one province, rather than three states. They also requested that the peace deal include terms on the prosecution of war criminals. They asked for clarification on the amount of compensation that would be allocated to each individual refugee and displaced person. They also demanded the return of hawakir — the tradional land distribution system – and security in Darfur, as prerequisites to an agreement.

Responding to the invitation of the mediators to attend the Doha Forum to witness the signing of the peace agreement with LJM, the refugees declined on the grounds that there is ongoing war and rape and displacement of civilians in Darfur every day. They asked how there could be peace while the other rebel movements remain at war, and are absent from Doha.