Darfur rebel chief dismisses IDP return to villages

July 5, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The chairman of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur dismissed reports by the African Union – United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on the return of IDP’s to their villages.

This week UNAMID announced that hundreds of families have returned home since 2007 after being displaced during the upsurge of fighting since 2003.

But Al-Nur said that insecurity is prevalent in most of Darfur.

“The people are still being attacked in North, South and West Darfur. The kidnapping of the two aid workers proves that” Al-Nur told Sudan Tribune.

“I just hope that UNAMID would actually work to prevent the death and rape of the Darfuris rather than simply putting them in reports” he added.

The Sudanese government including president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir insists that 90% of Darfur is safe and that the IDP’s could return home.

Khartoum has attempted to dismantle some of the refugee camps in the past but has failed to do so due to heavy resistance from the residents.

Al-Nur said that the UNAMID mandate should be enhanced to allow the peacekeepers to protect civilians without regard to any Sudanese demands.

The UNAMID is currently allowed to use force to protect civilians “without prejudice to the responsibilities of the Sudanese government”.

“UNAMID should become a force of peace building to not just peace keeping” he said.

The Darfur peacekeeping force has been slow in reaching full capacity due to Khartoum objections on the composition of the force and it is still lacking helicopters which world countries were hesitant to provide.

UNAMID is considered to be one of the most expensive missions in the history of the UN.

(ST)