Accommodation offered to Darfuri students in Khartoum

The Darfuri women students, who were forcibly evicted from El Zahra boarding house in Khartoum on 5 October, have been offered alternative accommodation. Fatima Fadul, one of the expelled Darfuri students of the University of Khartoum, told Radio Dabanga that most of the students are now accommodated in other boarding houses in the city. The National Endowment Fund for Students had ordered a group of 70 Darfuri women students to vacate El Zahra boarding house before 25 September, as the facility needed to be vacated for maintenance. The students refused to leave, saying they had nowhere else to go. In the early morning of 5 October, security forces stormed the place, and brutally evicted the young women. Dozens of them were detained. Fadul accused the Endowment Fund of aiming to disperse the Darfuri students. “We could have been easily transferred to another temporarily place in peace.” She said that 41 students were offered accommodation in three housing facilities. “Eight are now hosted in the Medical Boarding House, 28 at El Bashayir dormitory, and 15 can temporarily stay at El Burhan dormitory.” A number of students are now staying in an apartment, rented for this purpose by Ibrahim El Sheikh, the head of the Sudanese Congress Party, and others in two apartments, rented by the No to Women Oppression Initiative, she said. File photo: Entrance to a house in Khartoum (virtualtourist.com) Related:‘Darfur Regional Authority closed door in our face’: students (13 October 2014)‘Attack on Darfuri students requires investigation’ (12 October 2014) ‘El Intibaha story about students fabricated’: Darfur lawyers (9 October 2014) Women’s initiative condemns ‘racist attack’ on Darfuri students (9 October 2014) Darfuri students detained in Sudan’s capital (8 October 2014)