♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ More than 10 people died from hunger, lack of medicines in Blue Nile state

January 1 – 2018 BLUE NILE STATE According to the Sudanese Relief and Reconstruction Agency (SRRA) at least 13 people, mostly children and elderly, have died of food and medicine shortages in Blue Nile State between May and December.

Sodari Shamila, Head of the SRRA, established by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), told Radio Dabanga on Friday that the victims died in the area north of Wadaka. They were among about 9,000 people who were displaced in May by internal SPLM-N fighting as well as the torrential rains.

In addition about 240 people fled to the south, to the refugee camps in neighbouring El Maban in South Sudan. “Their conditions are deteriorating,” Shamila explained. “If these people do not receive humanitarian aid within two months, the situation will be intolerable.”

Last Thursday, the SPLM-N group led by Malik Agar declared a unilateral six-month ceasefire in Blue Nile State. The movement broke into two factions, one led by Agar, in March last year. This meant a set-back for the possibility of resumed peace negotiations between the rebel movement and the Sudanese government, which have been fighting each other in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011.

The presence of government forces significantly disturbed the current agricultural season in the neighbouring South Kordofan, Sodari Shamila said about the humanitarian and security situation there. “It is, however, relatively better compared to Blue Nile State.”

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♦ Gold mining to increase in Sudan's South Kordofan

January 1 – 2018 KHARTOUM / EL TADAMON Last week, the Sudanese Ministry of Minerals signed an agreement with a Saudi Arabian company to explore for gold and other minerals in South Kordofan. A protection force stationed near a gold mining facility is reportedly terrorising the population.

Members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police, who have been deployed by the South Kordofan government to guard the Liha gold mining facility in the area , are patrolling the area as well. “They are terrorising the population,” a resident of El Zarafa told Radio Dabanga. “The government took measures to protect the plant, not the people and the environment affected by the cyanide used in the gold mining.”

If the gold produced in Sudan were not sold but used as a guarantee for financing, the country’s financial problems would be solved, Minister of Minerals Dr Hashem Ali Salem said last Wednesday. He announced that the gold production has increased to more than 100 tons during the current year.

Meanwhile commissioners in Jebel Amer, North Darfur, announced the regulation of the traditional gold mining. Traditional mining can be done by anyone with a gold detector, out of the control of the authorities. The reorganisation would include measures to improve the health situation for the workers.

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