‘Sudan security to raid South Darfur camp soon’: refugees association

The security service in South Darfur plans to search Kalma camp in Nyala locality in the coming days, according to the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Association. The association has reasons to believe that the government suspects the camp of harbouring members belonging to Darfur’s armed rebel movements.The association shared its information in a meeting with the United Nations and African Union joint peacekeeping mission (Unamid) at the headquarters in Nyala city. The mission has decided to immediately deploy forces to the camp, Saleh Eisa Mohamed, Secretary-General of Kalma camp and a member of the association’s delegation, told Radio Dabanga.”During the meeting, the association denied the presence of rebel forces or armed forces in Kalma,” Eisa added. Sudan researcher and analyst Dr Eric Reeves said today he has sources indicating that the search in Kalma will occur this weekend or next week. The population in Kalma camp, located southeast of South Darfur’s capital of Nyala, witnessed repeated raids and searches by security forces during the last months. On 5 September, the displaced staged a demonstration against the raids, whereupon the security forces killed four displaced and wounded dozens of others during their attempt to disperse the protesters with tear gas and live ammunition. ‘Unamid to protect camp’On 4 October, a Unamid force of about 500 military troops arrived at the camp, in order to protect the displaced inside and outside the camp against armed robbers and gunmen. In August, the Unamid had expressed its concern about the security raids in the South Darfur camps for displaced people. It announced several measures that would mitigate the impact of such operations on the civilian population inside the camps. “The government has to guarantee that these activities are carried out respecting human rights and observing international humanitarian law; especially in the vulnerable internally displaced communities,” the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said in a press release on 14 August. He reminded the camp population that harbouring, aiding, or abetting offenders who possess weapons contravenes international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, the United States issued a statement, warning its citizens about travelling to Sudan. It requested travellers to not enter the Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan states in particular. File photo: Kalma camp residents at the demonstration of 5 September, which was violently dispersed and ended deadly (Radio Dabanga archive) Related: Unamid stations 500 at South Darfur’s Kalma camp (8 October 2014)Head of Kalma camp, South Darfur: ‘Lift State of Emergency’ (16 September 2014) Military raid on South Darfur’s Kalma camp; Unamid measures ‘to mitigate impact’ (14 August 2014)