26,595 IDPs families return to Central Darfur State: report
August 13 2018 (ZALINGEI) – Voluntary Return Commission (VRC) in Central Darfur State said 26,595 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) families have returned to the state as part of the voluntary return programme.
In a report seen by Sudan Tribune, the VRC said there are 19 IDPs camps in 7 out of 9 localities in Central Darfur, pointing there are no camps in North and Central Jebel Marra localities.
According to the report, 1654 families have returned to 13 villages of voluntary return in the Zalingei locality while 2958 families have returned to 20 villages in Um Dokhon locality.
It added 5598 families have returned to 19 villages in Azom locality while 2791 families have returned to 13 villages in central Jebel Marra.
The report further pointed out that 5034 families have returned to 19 villages in Mukjar locality while 441 families have returned to 4 villages in Bindasi locality.
Also, 1856, 663 and 5600 families have returned to 6,4 and 7 villages in Wadi Salih, West Jebel Marra and North Jebel Marra localities respectively.
The report also mentioned that the IDPs camps house 34,600 people saying 14,800 of them have returned as 19,800 are still there.
Last June, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam stated that the government has no plan to forcibly evicting the IDPs camps, but has set a number of options for IDPs, including resettlement in the area where they are, or in another area according to their desire.
Since the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur in July 2011, the government constructed several villages and vowed to support IDPs who return to their home areas.
However, IDPs representatives in several camps say they refuse to return to their areas before the disarmament of the armed militias and the evacuation of their land from the newcomers.
In a report released on 5 February, UNOCHA estimates there are about 386,000 returnees in Sudan conflict areas including Darfur and the Two Areas.
The Sudanese army has been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003. UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in the conflict, and over 2.5 million were displaced.
(ST)