Refugees issue ultimatum to Gambari

Say he has 72 hours to submit the list of refugees that he claims have returned home voluntarily

Residents of 10 refugee camps in West Darfur issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) chief Ibrahim Gambari on Tuesday. The representatives of the refugee camps met in El Geneina to refute Gambari’s claims that refugees from Darfur had volunteered to return home.Gambari had said in a press conference earlier this month about nearly 1.5 million refugees returning to their homes in Darfur.

The camp leaders asked Gambari to submit in writing the names of the refugees who have returned to their villages and the sheikhs in the areas.

“The figures given out by the UNAMID are false. If they don’t submit the list of refugees, we will lose trust in the UNAMID and cut ties with the mission,” a representative told Radio Dabanga. The deadline for the UNAMID to respond is on Friday morning.

Refugees of Darfuri camps had also expressed their distrust for Ibrahim’s remark earlier and asked him to apologize for his words or resign.