♦ This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
♦ Student killed in growing bread price protests in Sudan
January 9 – 2018 EL GENEINA / KHARTOUM / EL GEZIRA / KASSALA On Sunday, the third day of demonstrations against the 300% price increases that hit the country last week, a student was killed in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina. Other parts of the country witnessed protests as well, as prices rise and the value of the Pound plummets.
The incident on Sunday took place as demonstrators in El Geneina set fire to the local headquarters of the ruling National Congress Party in the city, and government forces opened fire on the crowd. Secondary school student El Zubeir Ibrahim Sikiran was killed instantly. Eight others were wounded and dozens were detained.
Khartoum, El Gezira, and Kassala witnessed spontaneous protests against the new increases in the prices of basic commodities and the fuel and electricity tariffs. Opposition parties have started to rally up people for peaceful demonstrations.
Not only bread has become scarce in Sudan, also hard currencies. The value of the Sudanese Pound continues to plummet and now trades for a record SDG29.5 against the US Dollar on the parallel markets of Sudan.
Newspapers reporting on the nation’s events have been confiscated by the security apparatus, totalling eight print-runs in two consecutive days. International media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the directices by the security service and continuous confiscations in a press statement it released today.
♦ Sudanese-Eritrean border closed in Kassala, RSF troops deployed
January 9 – 2018 KASSALA The Sudanese government deployed thousands of paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) along the border with Eritrea last week which has reportedly been closed. On Saturday, the Governor of Kassala ordered the closure of all border crossings in the state.
“Thousands of RSF troops riding in hundreds of Land Cruisers and tanks arrived in the eastern part of the state since Wednesday afternoon,” a listener told Radio Dabanga from Kassala on Friday. “No explanations were given.”
During an inspection of El Laffa on Friday, Governor Adam Jamaa denied that the border with Eritrea was closed on Thursday. Jamaa said that the deployed paramilitaries are responsible for collecting illegal arms, conducting an inventory of unlicensed vehicles, and combating of the smuggling of people and goods in the state.
Kassala and North Kordofan states are in a State of Emergency. In end December, the government’s campaign of the collection of illegal arms and unlicensed vehicles was extended to these areas. The decision by the Sudanese presidency to impose the State of Emergency surprised politicians and lawyers, who expected that the government will use it to tighten its suppression on the currently developing public unrest because of the scarcity of bread and fuel.
Minister Rashid Haroun Adam defended the decision at the Sudanese parliament on Monday and said that without imposing the State of Emergency, the two states face threats of civil conflict and risks for the local economy.
More news from Radio Dabanga:
January 9 – 2018 KHARTOUM / ED DAMAZIN / SENNAR The Sudanese security service arrested a number of politicians who joined the protests against the nationwide price increases on consumer goods in Khartoum, Sennar and Blue Nile towns, on the same day…
January 8 – 2018 SARAF OMRA The North Darfur authorities have ordered the withdrawal of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from Saraf Omra locality.Reasons were not provided, a listener told Radio Dabanga from the area on Sunday. He said that the people…
January 7 – 2018 NEW YORK The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) has expressed its concerns about the safety and well-being of two eastern Sudanese community leaders who are being held incommunicado by the National Intelligence and Security…
January 5 – 2018 MUGLAD A merchant was killed in his house in Muglad, West Kordofan, on Thursday. The local chamber of commerce closed the town’s market in protest against the killing…
January 4 – 2018 KASS A contingent of the main Sudanese government militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has demolished market stalls and subjected displaced people to abuse in a surprise raid on the market of Kass in South Darfur…
January 4 – 2018 KHARTOUM An expert in the field of electric power has harshly criticised the new increase in Sudan’s electricity tariffs for the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors and questions how the increases can be justified…
January 4 – 2018 DARFUR The prices of consumer goods and necessities which are rising across Sudan have increased disproportionately in Darfur, making life in the cities, villages and settlements overwhelmingly intolerable…
January 3 – 2018 EL GASH / EL GEDAREF Farmers of El Gash agricultural project in Sudan’s Kassala predict the failure of the winter agricultural season due to drought, government neglect, and a lack of harvest workers. El Gedaref farmers fear…
January 3 – 2018 TURBA The Second Vice-President of Sudan, Hassabo Abdulrahman accompanied by the Wali of South Darfur, Adam El Faki, and the Sultan of the Fur tribe, Ahmed Hussein Ayoub Ali Dinar, attended the voluntary return of 5,000 displaced…
| This digest is an excerpt from the weekly Darfur & Sudan News Update. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox |
and then