West Darfur Wali asks Unamid to help facilitate voluntary return

The Acting Wali (Governor) of West Darfur, Mohamed Ibrahim Sharafeldin, has called on the Unamid peacekeeping force to contribute with the government to the implementation of early recovery projects and services to the return areas so as to ensure stability and encourage voluntary return of refugees.

Speaking during a meeting with UN security adviser of Unamid Nethan Dankawah in the state capital El Geneina, he outlined the state's plan for two ‘model’ residential cities for those displaced pople who want to stay in the cities and handing them over to them as part of the integration of the displaced persons into society.

Dankawah said that his visit aims to determine the coordination and cooperation between the two sides as well as to assess the security situation on the ground in West Darfur.

The displaced residents of camps across Darfur have repeatedly refused to cooperate with any programme of voluntary return under the current security situation. They demand that the security situation be stabilised and the militias disarmed. There are also consistent reports of new settlers having taken over the land and villages abandoned by the displaced during the years of war in Darfur.