♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

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

♦ More detentions days after US envoy's visit to Darfur

August 2 – 2016 NIERTETI A campaign of detentions against displaced men took place in camps in Nierteti, Central Darfur, just days after the US Special Envoy to Sudan Donald Booth met with displaced people in Nierteti camp.
El Shafie Abdallah, the coordinator of Central Darfur camps, confirmed that six men are still in detention today. He told Radio Dabanga that several others may be detained too.|

Last Wednesday, US Special Envoy Donald Booth met with a committee of displaced people in the headquarters of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid). 20 elders, women and youths attended to discuss a range of issues in Darfur, and to complain about abusive government forces and pro-government militias.

Sources reported the names of five detainees and how members of the security service took them on Sunday morning. An activist reported that another man was detained later that afternoon. “The security authorities still are still pursuing Adam Hamid Adam, El Rasheed Mohamed Eisa and Ahmed Abdallah Omar,” the activist said.

According to coordinator El Shafie Abdallah, the wanted men all attended the meeting with Booth on Wednesday. Some of the six detainees did not attend the meeting. He appealed to the Embassy of the US in Khartoum and the Sudanese government to intervene and stop the detention campaign of participants of Wednesday's meeting.

♦ Eastern Sudanese families missing after floods

August 2 – 2016 EASTERN SUDAN In a continuous stream of reports about flash floods that destroy houses and infrastructure, 45 families are reportedly still missing in Kassala's Aroma locality after the flooding of the river during the past week. Because of the lack of access to affected villages, the number of deaths and missing is difficult to define. 

The only party to have arrived in Kassala, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), has deployed an aid convoy to the residents of Hameshkoreib locality, who are also struck by the floods of the annual rainy season. 

“The conditions of the displaced residents and other residents are miserable. The water has washed away all their possessions and livestock. Now they live in the open without shelter,” a SRCS employee told Radio Dabanga.

Flash floods have washed away the dam that connected Hameshkoreib with Kassala on Sunday. A Sheikh in the area reported that residents fled to the surrounding mountains. Other reports state that more than 835 houses in Hameshkoreib are destroyed and over 700 damaged. Five people are reported to have drowned in a flood last week.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest weekly bulletin that an estimated 42,850 people have been affected so far, according to the SRCS and the Sudanese government. About 8,570 houses have been damaged, of which 4,308 were completely destroyed.

More highlights from Radio Dabanga:

Anger in eastern Sudan as prices soar, Dollar reaches SDG16

August 1 – 2016 PORT SUDAN / KHARTOUM The sharp rise of food prices and transportation tariffs in the Red Sea State in eastern Sudan is leading to discontent among the residents. Radio Dabanga listener Omar Hashim reported from Port Sudan…

Two children starve to death in Sudan's Blue Nile State

August 1 – 2016 ED DAMAZIN The already dire humanitarian situation in Blue Nile State is deteriorating more because of the armed conflict in South Sudan, says Ibrahim Beis, human rights observer in the state. Two children died of starvation recently. Beis told Radio Dabanga on Sunday that…

Mbeki to meet Sudan Appeal forces on 7 August

August 1 – 2016 CAIRO The chairman of the AU High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, will meet with representatives of the Sudanese opposition on the 7th of August. Mbeki agreed to meet the leaders of the opposition forces allied under…

EU, UNDP, Unamid to support dialogue in Darfur

July 31 – 2016 KHARTOUM On Tuesday, the EU Delegation in Sudan, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (Unamid) will launch a project to strengthen peace efforts and reconciliation through dialogue in Darfur. The project will support the ongoing…

Sudan's Al Bashir honoured for 'role in prosperity in Africa'

July 29 – 2016 ADDIS ABABA President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan has received an honouring by the African Initiative for Pride and Dignity in recognition of Sudan's efforts for the development of Africa and prosperity for African people, in Ethiopia on Friday. The President was… 

Jaundice syndrome, hepatitis E in North Darfur camp

July 29 – 2016 SORTONY Diseases prone to epidemics such as hepatitis E and acute jaundice syndrome spread in North Darfur's Sortony camp for the thousands of displaced people who have recently fled from Jebel Marra. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs… 

Sudan papers seized ‘after Turkey comments’

July 28 – 2016 KHARTOUM Agents of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) sized the print runs of El Sayha and El Taghyeernewspapers in Khartoum on Wednesday morning. No reasons were given for the seizure, but journalists suspected that it is a reaction…

Five women and girls assaulted, raped in North Darfur

July 27 – 2016 SORTONY / NYALA Four women and girls were raped, and a fifth injured, when a gang of paramilitaries intercepted them north of camp Sortony in North Darfur on Sunday. An unknown shooter caused panic at the Ministry of Health in Nyala. An activist from the area told Radio …

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