S. Darfur’s Kalma residents fear police raid

November 1, 2014 (NYALA) – The residents of Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan’s South Darfur state said they live in fear of a fresh assault by police and government security forces in the area.

The camp, which located 15km east of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and home of 126 IDPs, is seen by the security service since many years as a den of “outlaws” and as such is regularly targeted.

Last August, the local authorities conducted search operation to curtail criminal activities in Nyala saying that robbers and criminals hide in the camps.The residents protested the operation and asked to task the police personnel of the hybrid peacekeeping mission to carry out the operation.

A representative of the IDPs, Saleh Issa, told Sudan Tribune that there are reports that the security authorities are preparing to conduct search operations for rebels who allegedly sneaked into the camp.

He further denied the presence of rebel elements among the residents stressing “they have no interest to harbour” them.

The security situation in IPDs camp is stable thanks to the efforts of the societal police who coordinate with the African Union United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) police force deployed outside the area.

Issa said they informed the UNAMID of the expected assault and asked them to reinforce the protection of the civilians in the camp by creating three additional police stations, pointing to the increase of rape cases when women go outside the camp to collect wood.

He added that the local leaders, women and youth representatives met with the head of UNAMID police in the state to discuss plans to protect the displaced persons in the camps.

Following search operations last August, the former UNAMID chief Mohamed Ibn Chambas urged South Darfur authorities to coordinate with the hybrid mission and the local leaders before to launch search operations in the camp.

Over 30 people were killed in August 2008, when the camp residents resisted a search operation for weapons and clashed with the security forces.

Sudanese authorities several times declared their intention to remove the camp saying it lies near the railway station and Nyala airport.

(ST)