SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Darfur displaced fearful as UN peacekeepers hand over to local forces
Reuters’ feature piece on the end of the UN-African Union peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) spoke to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kalma camp in South Darfur.
While “Darfuris say UNAMID offered a weak but necessary deterrent against militias originally armed by former president Omar al-Bashir to fight rebels,” community leader Sheikh Mousa Bahar Adam said IDPs are being “left with criminals,” with Ahlam Hamid highlighting the risks of rape, assault and starvation, as men risk being killed if they leave Kalma resulting in women venturing out to work.
With Sudan deploying a 20,000 peacekeeping force to Darfur, Reuters note that Kalma residents “remain deeply distrustful” of government forces, particularly the Rapid Support Forces, “which incorporated members of the Janjaweed militias that terrorised Darfuris”.
Reuters further note that western diplomats expressed concern that UNAMID is withdrawing prematurely.