Darfur displaced reject UNMAID call to dialogue with Sudan governmentt
December 3, 2008 (NYALA) – The representatives of Darfur Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) yesterday rejected a call by the deputy head of the hybrid mission to engage dialogue with the Sudanese government on security issues.
In its efforts to bridge the differences between the Sudanese authorities and the IDPs in the war-torn region of Darfur, the African Union-UN peacekeeping mission on security issues the Deputy Joint Special Representative, Henry Anyidoho held on Tuesday a meeting with local chiefs at Kalma camp, near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State.
Anyidoho invited the IDPs representatives to “begin discussions with the Government to look into different issues of concern and establish a mechanism to address these issues jointly,” the UNAMID said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The deputy head of the hybrid mission said that UNAMID is working with the Government and the humanitarian community to provide a secure environment so that the IDPs could return to their place of origin.
“While these efforts are underway, the Mission will continue to assist the IDPs in every possible way in line with our mandate and the resources available,” he said. However, he also underscored that UNAMID would not replace the role of the Government in this matter of security.
The UN resolution 1769 provides that the protection of civilians is the responsibility of the Sudanese government. The hybrid peacekeeping mission can only intervene to prevent attacks against them if only the civilians are under “imminent threat of physical violence”.
Hussein Abusharati the IDPs and refugees spokesperson told Sudan Tribune that they rejected the offer of the UNAMID because “They want to implement an agreement (Abuja deal) that we reject; also such issue should be debated with the SLM and its leader Abdel Wahid Al-Nur during the peace talks not with us,” he underlined.
The IDPs spokesperson added that Anyidoho and his delegation angered some of the IDPs chiefs when he called them to deal with the Sudanese security officials to resolve security issues and the individual compensation.
“The local chiefs rejected the call and reiterated their rejection the presence of the Sudanese government officials in the camps. They also stressed that such questions have to be discussed with Abdel Wahid (Al-Nur) once Khartoum implements conducive environment for the talks,” Abusharati said.
He further said the IDPs chiefs urge the international community to respond positively to their demand for security” and added “If the UNAMID cannot provide such protection it would be better to transport us in refugee camps outside the country till the resolution of the conflict.”
Speaking to the reporters today following a briefing by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to UN Security Council the Ambassador of Costa Rica hinted that the UN should do more to protect the civilians in Darfur.
“It is the view of my government that we are very close to a case of responsibility to protect, as it was established in the outcome document from the summit of 2005. We have a government who is not willing to or cannot protect its population from genocide, from war crimes, from ethnic cleansing and those are exactly the premises for the responsibility to protect.”
“We believe that in the near future the council will have the obligation to take a closer look at the situation in Sudan and probably to look in the many tools that the council has to push the compliance with the decisions of the court,” he highlighted.
On August 25, the Sudanese forces killed 32 residents and over 100 injured at Kalma during an attempt to enter the camp. Since the hybrid mission established a 24/7 presence around the camp.
Following the escalation of violence in Darfur five years since the emergence of the rebellion in the region, the United Nations revised its estimations of civilians killed to 300,000 people, it also says that around 2.7 million have been driven from their home.
(ST)