Darfur Regional Authority to hold IDP conference

The commissioner of voluntary repatriation of the Darfur Regional Authority Azhari Shutta announced a conference will be held for internally displaced people and refugees of Darfur to discuss returning to their villages. The preparatory committee of displaced persons and refugees will be held on Sunday to determine the date, time and venue of the conference, said Shutta in an interview with Radio Dabanga. Shutta said the conference will most likely be held in the second week of April in Nyala over three days, with 500 representatives of refugees and displaced people.Members of the preparatory committee will go to the camps to work out how to represent more than two million displaced people in the conference. Shutta said the method of selection for participation will depend on the size of the population at each camp. The commissioner said the aim of the conference is to understand the views of displaced people and refugees with regards to voluntary return, in the hope of developing a plan with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). He hopes this will help to remove confusion and misconceptions about voluntary return and the wider process following the Doha peace agreement amongst refugees.