Sudanese refugees in Chad reject voluntary return

The Sudanese refugees in camp Treguine and Bredjing in eastern Chad have rejected voluntary return to their home areas in a meeting with a government delegation on Monday.

Sheikh Dahiya Idris Khamis, head of camp Bredjing, told Radio Dabanga that the government delegation, led by the head of the Office of Voluntary Return of Refugees in West Darfur, Mujibelrahman Muhamed Yagoub, asked the refugees of the camps, which lie close to the Chad-Sudan border between Abeche and El Geneina, to return to their original home areas once security and stability have prevailed in the country.

The refugees refused to return unless there is evident peace on the ground, and authorities have put a stop to the rapes, assaults, arson and theft. They also demand that before they return, the militias must be disarmed, and the new settlers expelled from their lands.

Sheikh Khamis said that the refugees held the Government responsible for crimes committed and still being committed in Darfur.