West Darfur displaced question IOM figures on returnees

The Association of Displaced Persons and Refugees have questioned figures published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), asserting that about 44,500 people displaced from various locations in and around El Geneina in West Darfur since the beginning of 2021, have returned to their places of origin.

In a statement by the association from Dar Masalit, the assembly questioned the statistical criteria that the IOM used to reach these numbers. The statement says that members of the committee visited Krinding camp on Friday, and did not find the people the IOM refers to, while the statistics of the IMO indicated that 15,000 returned to the Krinding camps.

The assembly called on the International Organization for Migration to immediately publish a statement of apology to the displaced.

IOM’s 19th Emergency Event Tracking update issued on 27 June estimates there are about 105,100 IDPs (21,000 families) in El Geneina and its surrounding villages. Since the EET update of 27 May, there has been a 30 per cent decrease in people reported as displaced, mainly due to people returning to their locations of origin as the security situation stabilises. Between 27 May and 12 June 2021, IOM participated in a joint rapid verification exercise with the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and other humanitarian partners to verify displaced caseloads across 48 of the 93 displacement sites in El Geneina town.