Darfur IDP’s complain about drug abuse inside Zam Zam camp

October 12, 2016 (EL-FASHER) – Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Zam Zam camp, 7 km south of El-Fasher, capital of North Darfur have complained about prevalence of drug and substance abuse among the students and young people in the overcrowded camp.

Issa Adam, a camp leader, told Sudan Tribune that drug dealers including students, young people and individuals from the regular and paramilitary organs sell various types of drugs and cannabis in front of a high school premises.

He pointed that the camp leaders coordinate with the government organs, saying however the drug dealers themselves belong to the regular forces.

The camp leaders called upon the government and the security organs to crackdown on the drug dealers, saying Zam Zam camp is not far from El-Fasher.

El-Fasher has become a transit point for drug trafficking to the Sudanese capital from the various Darfur states and the neighboring countries.

Last August, the director of the narcotics department in North Darfur Mohamed Ahmed al-Amin revealed the significant rise in drug abuse among students and young people, warning against the adverse impact of the phenomenon of the security and public safety.

He pointed that the war and the volatile security situation in Darfur has turned the region into a transit point as well as a consumer market of illegal drugs, saying his department has launched a large outreach and guidance campaign to eradicate the phenomenon.

Al-Amin added the phenomenon poses serious security and economic threat, pointing to its impact on the growing crime rate in the region.

(ST)