MiaFarrow.org |
Humanitarian and Advocacy Information |
Archives
| August 7, 2009 |
EL GENEINA – Scores of families in West Darfur faced harassment when they returned to their home village to cultivate their fields, says the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Aid in Sudan. The UN-refugee agency, UNHCR will raise the issue to the Humanitarian Aid Commission of the Sudanese Government. Refugees have repeatedly told me that at the invitation of the Government of Sudan, Arab tribes from Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali have come to Darfur and settled on their homelands. When the refugees try to return, the new occupants of the seized land threaten them and chase them away. Some camp chiefs have been detained over the last weeks after refusing to cooperate with Khartoum authorities. The displaced people feel increased pressure after US-envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, called upon the IDPs to prepare for return to their home areas. It was following his assertion in June that genocide in Darfur has ended. Several IDP-leaders organized protest demonstrations in the camps and have accused Gration of taking the side of the Sudanese government, which has long sought to dismantle the camps. In the Washington Post this week Gration denied that he is seeking to send Darfur’s displaced into harm’s way, saying he was simply ‘urging Darfurians and the United Nations to begin preparations for returns. “I am not pushing for anybody to go back right now, because I don’t think the situation is secure enough,” he said.