Rising tensions in North Darfur’s Sortony camp

Tensions in the Sortony makeshift camp for nearly 70,000 displaced people from Jebel Marra near a garrison of the UN Mission in Darfur (Unamid) in Kabkabiya in North Darfur, continue to rise between militiamen and the displaced. Groups of militiamen have reportedly gathered outside the camp while the local security committee has been unsuccessful in containing the situation.

During a fight between militiamen and passenger vehicle owners at the market of Sortony on Monday, two militiamen were killed. Relatives of the victims claimed that people from the camp were responsible for the deaths, and demanded ‘blood money’.

The accused displaced people have refused to pay the blood money of SDG400,000 ($65,200) after which the militiamen blocked off the main road leading to the only water source in the area.

On Wednesday, a delegation of the Kabkabiya native administration, led by Shartai Abdallah Abu Shouk, and the Kabkabiya security committee arrived in Sortony. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a local activist said that the displaced people denied their involvement in the incident.

They told the delegation in a meeting that the incident took place at night. “They said that the barbed wire between the camp and the market is broken, and that soldiers of Unamid were able to see the fighting.”

The activist said that the meeting ended when the displaced said they categorically refuse to pay the compensation as they did not kill the militiamen. The security delegation returned to Kabkabiya on Thursday.

The lack of outcome has resulted in the prolonging of the militiamen’s road and water blockade. “The people in Sortony are now suffering from a scarcity of water for three days,” the source said.

“The militiamen also threatened to prevent Unamid from bringing water to the displaced people,” the activist said. “The mission brings three tankers of water every day.”

She said that groups of militiamen are stationed north of Sortony camp, and expressed fears of an imminent attack on the camp.

70,000 displaced

People continue to flee the Jebel Marra area in central Darfur because of fighting between government forces and the Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid Nur (SLM-AW).

Nearly 70,000 of them, the majority of the estimated number of people who have been displaced by the fighting, sought refuge at the Unamid team site in Sortony, which has been turned into a makeshift camp.

The UN reported this week that a variety of estimates from aid organisations and authorities indicate that there could be about 133,000 displaced people from Jebel Marra in North, Central and South Darfur.

The World Food Programme that provided food to the displaced who have taken refuge in Sortony plans to do a headcount exercise next week to get a better picture of the number of the people sheltering near the Unamid team site in Sortony.

(Table: OCHA Sudan)