Zam Zam, Abu Shouk not attending IDP conference

Zam Zam and Abu Shouk are the latest displaced camps to boycott the Darfur Regional Authority’s IDP conference to be held in Nyala at the end of this month. ‘We need state officials and authorities to provide urgent security on the ground and make peace with all the opposition movements that refused to sign the Doha peace agreement’, said a camp leader to Radio Dabanga. ‘The conference does not provide the right atmosphere for us to freely express our views; the majority of delegates will be from the National Congress Party or the Liberation and Justice Movement, not everyone is represented’, added the leader. The event hopes to bring together around 700 delegates representing displaced people and refugees, local and state government along with delegates from the UN security council, African Union and Arab League.It will aim to understand the views of displaced people on ‘voluntary return’ to their villages.  Kalma and Gereida camps in South Darfur along with Zalingei in West Darfur expressed distrust of the conference earlier this week citing insecurity, a lack of freedom of speech and the possibility of arrest or even assassination on attending the conference.Following the launch of the Darfur Regional Authority in February, camp representatives warned that the Doha agreement would further divide Darfuri people and described it as ‘beginning a new phase in the genocide in Darfur’.