Hamdouk restates need for achieving peace in Darfur
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan’s Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdouk, who returned from a rare visit to the restive region of Darfur said he would be satisfied only if his government is able to reach an all inclusive peace and the victims of the conflicts have felt that transitional justice was served and rights restored.
Interviewed by the national television in Fashir, capital of North Darfur, 800 km west of Khartoum, Dr. Hamdouk pointed out that his visit has renewed hope that achieving peace was doable in the region and that he and his colleagues in the government would not be happy until the war has been completely ended and peace reigned in the region and the country at large.
He said during the past 30 years, achieving peace has never been felt so near as it is at present following his visit in which he robbed shoulders with representatives of thousands of civilians who were displaced during over 16 years of conflict and civil strife. He said there was now a genuine desire and willingness to achieve peace in the country
On Tuesday, Hamdouk paid a one-day visit to Fashir, the capital city, but he went outside the town to the camps of the internally displaced persons, an area made taboo for politicians to step in during the past government.
Most of the visit and gathering by senior officials in the past were to areas adjacent to the camps or to rural neighborhood of the towns.
But Hamdouk stepped inside the camps.
The United Nations said over 300,000 people were killed in the war that broke in the region in 2003 and millions made refugees or displaced inside their country own country.
The persistent displacement and killing and the foul play cry from the international community, spurred the UN and the African union into stepping in to try to stem the fighting.
In 2007, the Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) forces were introduced to help protect the civilians there, especially those living in IDP camps, where those villagers have been forcefully driven out of their farms and traditional areas, to seek safety near the urban areas.
Dozens of camps for internally displaced persons cropped up near the major towns, forming their own township.
In 2016-2017, the first group of children born in these camps sat for the primary school examination, knowing nothing but these camps as their relatives left their home villages years ago because of the conflict and inter-communal fighting in the restive region of Darfur.
The death and the outcry of the civil society organization and the American punitive regulations with regards to Darfur dragged the issue to the doors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that demanded deposed president Omar Bashir and his colleagues be brought for trial, accusing them of genocide and crime against humanity.
Bashir and his supporters disclaimed any responsibility and argued the whole issue was politically motivated as part of the drive to humiliate African leaders.
-0- PANA MO/VAO 6Nov2019
