No school for children in Sortony, North Darfur

Thousands of displaced children who live in North Darfur's Sortony are unable to enjoy an education because of the lack of schools. Others refuse to go to high school in nearby towns owing to the attacks by militiamen.

The head of the youth at the site for displaced people in Sortony, adjacent to the base of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission, told Radio Dabanga that at least 15,000 children of basic school-age miss out on education. “The government refuses to build a school in Sortony.

“One of the aid organisations intended to build schools for the children here but the government has refused to grant its approval for the construction.”

The youth officials added that there are 112 students who have stopped going to high school in Kabkabiya. They are at risk of being attacked by the militiamen who have been spreading on the road between Sortony and Kabkabiya for weeks.

He pointed out that his youth section filed a complaint in this regard to the Ethiopian force of Unamid, stationed in the camp in order to provide protection for the students while going to school. “But the Ethiopian force has refused to respond to the request. They say they are tasked with the provision of protection for the displaced people outside the camp.”

Sortony remains the shelter for approximately 22,600 people who have fled from Jebel Marra, the mountain range south of Kabkabiya, during the fighting between government and militia forces against armed rebels that started mid-January.