Unamid promises to protect displaced in West Darfur

After an absence of three years, a Unamid delegation paid a visit to Sirba locality in West Darfur, and met with representatives of the displaced in the locality on Thursday. “The displaced explained how they suffer from the deterioration of the security situation in the region,” the coordinator of the West Darfur camps told Radio Dabanga. “They described the assaults by the government-backed militiamen, and pointed to the frictions between them and the herders, armed by the government. The displaced urged Unamid to establish a base in the locality in order to protect the people from attacks.” “The visiting Unamid officials justified their absence over the past three years by saying that the Sudanese government had notified them that the security situation in West Darfur was stable, and did not require the presence of the Mission,” the coordinator said. The Unamid officials promised the residents of the Sirba camps to protect the displaced in West Darfur by setting up patrols. File photo: Peacekeepers patrolling at night around the Unamid base in El Daein, East Darfur, October 2012 (Albert González Farran/Unamid)