52,700 IDPs registered in Darfur during April 2017: UN report
May 28, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Due to the improvement of humanitarian access in Darfur, International Organization for Migration (IOM) last April managed to register 52,700 IDPs mostly displaced from Jebel Marra in 2016.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)’s office in Khartoum reported on Sunday in its weekly bulletin that the recently registered IDPs from the 2016 caseload, include “24,613 IDPs were registered in Tawilla locality, North Darfur and 20,402 IDPs were registered in Nertiti locality, Central Darfur”.
Furthermore, there are “7,554 new IDPs who fled their homes in East Darfur and arrived between 17 February and 8 March in El Lait locality, North Darfur were registered in April”.
While the 2016 IDPs fled their areas due to the clashes with the holdout rebel groups, the new “IDPs had fled their villages in East Darfur State due to an inter-communal conflict between farmers and pastoralists and sought refuge in four locations in El Lait locality”.
Following an agreement with the U.S. on the lift of the longstanding economic sanctions, Khartoum agreed to stop air attacks on civilian areas, declared a unilateral cessation of hostilities and opened humanitarian access to the IDPs areas in Darfur.
Some armed groups also committed themselves to a unilateral cessation of hostilities.
10,000 RETURNEES
Based on Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Fact Sheet prepared by IOM, OCHA reported the registration of 10,229 returnees in April.
“4,385 (people returned to) Otash village, South Darfur and 5,844 returnees were registered in nine localities in North Darfur State,” said the UN humanitarian agency.
“The registered returnees said their return is permanent and that they do not plan to go back to their areas of displacement,” said the report.
According to the UN agencies, over 195,500 refugees and IDP returned to their areas of origin in Darfur in 2014-2016.
(ST)