Sudan denies forced relocation of Darfur refugees
CAIRO, Nov 3 (AFP) — The Sudanese government dismissed accusations by international aid agencies that it was forcibly relocating refugees in Darfur, insisting the situation in the crisis-stricken region was stable.
Khartoum has deployed 12,000 police to the region, stabilising the humanitarian situation and bringing security “under control”, said Sudan’s junior Interior Minister Ahmed Haroun during a visit to Cairo.
“The presence of these forces has contributed greatly to stabilizing security conditions,” Haroun was quoted as saying by Egypt’s MENA agency, rejecting recent accusations of a deteriorating security situation.
Haroun said that as a result of Khartoum’s actions, “many displaced persons were returning to their homes”.
Aid agencies operating in Darfur said on Tuesday that the government may be forcibly relocating thousands of displaced persons to less secure areas.
“Recently there were more reports on rebel activity, and that is a concern to us because of the possibility of retaliatory action, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Geneva.
Since February last year, Sudan’s three western Darfur provinces have been embroiled in a conflict pitting two rebel movements against government forces and Khartoum’s proxy Arab militias.
French-based aid organisation Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) said that Sudanese government forces “encircled and emptied” the Serief refugee camp in southern Darfur and forcibly moved about 500 occupants to the Waddi Sikali camp.
“The police then razed the Serief camp, destroying shelters and tents,” the aid group said in a statement.
Police also “fired shots into the air to disperse the refugees who opposed the relocation and at the current time a large part of the camp occupants are without shelter”, the statement said.
“The government of Sudan has been reminded of its obligation to ensure only the voluntary movement of IDPs (internally displaced persons),” George Somerwill, deputy spokesperson for the UN Advanced Mission in Sudan said Wednesday in Khartoum.
Somerwill also renewed UN concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the region.
Relief agencies had to stop some aid work after 18 Sudanese of Arab origin were kidnapped last Thursday from a bus between Zalinge and Nyala in West Darfur.
Local Arab tribes threatened to take the law into their hands if the hostages, reportedly being held by the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), were not released, Somerwill said.
“Following the abductions, tension in the Zalinge area has dramatically increased,” said Somerwill.
He said that he had received an unconfirmed report that 25 SLM rebels had been killed in an ambush by pro-government militiamen.
The dead were reportedly part of a team going to meet African Union ceasefire monitors, but no details of where or when the attack took place were available.
Somerwill added that a UN team later visited the area and “noted a high level of apprehension amongst the local population.”
The situation “has been made worse by ongoing incidents of cattle rustling, involving animals belonging to nomadic tribes,” he said.
Somerwill said aid agencies were also investigating reports that “militias, suspected to be Janjaweed, are infiltrating camps and abducting women” in southern Darfur.
The civil war in Darfur has left some 70,000 dead and created what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with some 1.5 million people forced from their homes.