Darfur IDPs welcome UNSC resolution to renew UNAMID’s mandate
July 2, 2016 (NYALA) – Darfur’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees association has welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) resolution to extend the mandate of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for additional year.
Deputy Chairman of the IDPs and refugees association Adam Abdalla Idris told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that the resolution has aborted a “government conspiracy” to exit the mission before ending the tragedy of the IDPs and refugees.
He stressed that the humanitarian situation of the IDPs and refugees has not yet improved, pointing to the decline in food rations provided by the World Food Programme (WFP).
Idris also pointed to the growing numbers of IDPs particularly in areas around Jebel Marra, saying any attempts to exit the UNAMID would again endanger civilians’ lives.
He underscored the need to mandate the mission’s troops to protect the IDPs against armed militias, pointing that UNAMID failed to defend the IDPs who grow crops and collect firewood from around the camps against the continued attacks by those militias.
UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million were displaced.
UNAMID has been deployed in Darfur since 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in the restive region.
It is the world’s second largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.
(ST)