Refugees return to South Darfur

Over 7,000 Darfuri refugees in South Sudan from Fallata and Al Umbororo tribes returned to their homes in South Darfur’s Dimsu locality on Sunday.
The move was part of the United Nations and Sudanese government’s joint refugee return program.
Nearly 20,000 cattle also returned along with the refugees. Abdel Kader Mansour, commissioner of Dimsu locality, said that the state of South Darfur had already finished building another camp complete with health and educational facilities in order to accommodate the returnees.
‘State taking away our land’
Refugees from Bulbul, Abou Jazu currently residing in Kaas camp complained on Sunday of the Sudanese government handing over their land and farms to new settlers in the region.
A representative of the camp residents told Radio Dabanga that their lands were first usurped by government forces and then handed over to new settlers in the area.
Government authorities could now be contacted for more information over this allegation. Meanwhile, the affected refugees appealed to the international community to intervene in the matter and halt the Sudanese government’s plans of going ahead with the land handover.
Donkeys being stolen
Refugees from various camps across Darfur complained about the theft of donkeys by armed men.
The donkeys are allegedly being stolen from inside people’s homes as well as from the streets of Darfur. A refugee told Radio Dabanga that the thefts had intensified in the recent past and delivered a huge economic blow to the refugees.
“It is their only means of livelihood. There are no cows, sheep, agriculture, so this is what we have left,” he explained.