Robberies, shooting on Zalingei-Hamidiya camp road in Central Darfur

The road between Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur, and the Hamidiya camp for the displaced, has been the scene of several assaults by militiamen this week. “Camp resident Mustafa Mohamed Omar was robbed of SDG500 ($87) on Monday, when he was returning to the camp from his work. An amount of SDG730 ($127) was stolen this week from Mojahed Jaafar, who was on his way back to the camp together with four other displaced in a rickshaw,” the coordinator of the Zalingei camps reported to Radio Dabanga. “Government-backed militiamen also fired at four Hamidiya camp residents, among them two women, on the Zalingei-Hamidiya road, but no one sustained injuries.” The camp coordinator strongly condemned the attacks. He holds administration officials and the sheikhs of the districts located “east of the valley” responsible for the violence against the displaced, and accused the local government of spurring the tribal militiamen to assault the camp population. “The local authorities aim to create a rift between the displaced and the residents in those districts.” The coordinator appealed to the sheikhs to intervene and prevent “these immoral practices”. He also blamed Unamid for failing to protect the displaced in the camps. “Unamid’s main mandate is the protection of civilians in Darfur.” File photo: El Salam camp in South Darfur (Amnesty International) Related:South Darfur’s Kalma camp registers 19 rape cases within 12 days (1 May 2014) Murder, rape, theft, beatings in Kutum, North Darfur (30 April 2014) Displaced protest insecurity in Gireida, South Darfur; NGO Merlin expelled (29 April 2014)