UN to assist IDPs return to Darfur

  1. Posted on Thursday 11 November 2010 - 10:20
    Muhyadin
    Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
    UN aid Chief Valerie Amos said that United Nations is to help the voluntary return of people displaced by the conflict in Darfur.
    sudan
    "Of course we will support returns, as long as we are satisfied that those returns are being made on the basis that people want to go back," said Amos who was visiting a camp for displaced people.

    During her six day tour of the region, Amos said the decision would also be based on whether "there is some provision of basic services that the security situation is such that their safety has been considered."

    The conflict of Darfur which began in 2003 when ethnic rebels took up arms against Khartoum had displaced about 2.7 million people to makeshift camps which rely on international aid.

    Humanitarian and UN officials believe some of those displaced want to return home as the camps, on city outskirts, gradually become suburbs with tents giving way to mudbrick huts.

    Humanitarian workers said the Sudanese government wants to do away with the camps, which it views as rebel bastions, even if people are forced to leave.

    "For us it is very important that nobody is forced to move. I have just spoken to a number of women who say it is still not safe to go back where they live. They feel much more secure here, and that the basic services are being provided here," said Amos.

    The issue is particularly sensitive in Kalma, considered a stronghold of Abdelwahid Nur's Sudan Liberation Army, one of the two main rebel groups which oppose talks with Khartoum.

    Seven people died in fighting between supporters and opponents of the talks last July in Kalma, home to 80,000 people on the outskirts of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

    The ongoing conflicts in Darfur have killed some 300,000 people, according to a UN report. Sudan however said only 10,000 people are dead.

    Sudan resident Omar Hassan al-Bashir is wanted for war crimes in western Sudan region of Darfur but he denies the charges.

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