Refugees want to return home

2004-07-05 20:12

El-Feshir - The displaced of Darfur say they want to believe the Sudanese government is serious about ending the humanitarian crisis in their impoverished region and disarming the militias that continue to terrorise the people.

But few of them are sure they can take the government at its word.

Between 7 000 and 10 000 people are living in the camp, mostly women and women. Food is becoming scarce, the children are out of school and medical supplies are limited.

Those seriously ill must travel on donkeys or by foot in the blazing heat to El-Feshir and pay for medical treatment.

Now, to compound the problems, the first rains have begun to fall.

Some of the dirt roads used to bring in supplies may become impassable, and the huts are not built to withstand the rain.

Ponds of standing rainwater from the first rains have increased the number of malaria cases, the United Nations reported last week.

Yet with all the hardship, it is difficult to find anyone willing to leave the relative safety of the camp and return home.

A group of women gathered last week around visiting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who listened intently as they pleaded with him not to let the government repatriate them.

Earlier, Annan had met with the men and the issue of forced repatriation was also raised.

No food or security yet

"We are ready to go now if there is security and food," one man told the UN chief.

But there is none of that in the villages, at least not yet.

Annan spoke with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir the next day, and their meeting resulted in a joint communique giving Annan and the internal refugees what they had demanded.

Very importantly for the IDPs, the statement said any return of the displaced to their homes would be done voluntarily.

It also pledged to "ensure that no militias are present in all areas surrounding IDP camps" and to "immediately start to disarm the Janjaweed and other armed outlaw groups."

Beshir has named the interior minister, General Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein, as his representative for Darfur. He has tasked him with ensuring the safe delivery of assistance to the needy, restoring security and disarming the militia groups.

And Hussein has been talking tough.

"We will take measures against them," he told reporters during Annan's visit to North Darfur. He added that he was deploying a 6 000-strong police in Darfur to insure that his orders are carried out.

In the meantime, attacks continue, including a recent one on a World Food Program convoy in West Darfur.

A UN report recently said unknown perpetrators reportedly looted a truck full of blankets and two trucks of food, killed the man facilitating the convoy and injured the two drivers.

Just as Soliman feared.

- AFP