South Darfur gov't says to remove Kalma IDP camp

The South Darfur State government on Monday said it would not allow the Kalma camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to remain at its present location at the heart of Nyala, capital of the state, after the camp had become a "security threat" and a "shelter for criminals".

"Kalma IDP camp has become a security threat for the state as it lies at a strategic area near the railway station and Nyala's new airport. The camp should not remain at this place. We will not allow its continuation and we will not accept the camp to be a state within a state," said Abdul-Hameed Musa Kasha, the South Darfur State governor, at a press conference in Khartoum.

He further said that his government embarked on making arrangements to move the camp from its current location.

The Kalma camp, which accommodates around 100,000 people, last week witnessed bloody armed clashes between supporters of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) -- Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nur's faction and supporters of the peace negotiations in Doha. The clashes resulted in the killing of eight IDPs.

The Kalma events prompted a crisis between the South Darfur State government and the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) after the mission reportedly sheltered six IDPs, five men and a woman, whom the Sudanese authorities have accused of being responsible of prompting violence in Kalma camp.

Khartoum says the six people who resorted to UNAMID are criminals and accused of being responsible of the violent events in the camp and demands UNAMID to hand them over. The mission, however, has refused to hand them over to the Sudanese authorities.

The South Darfur State governor further reiterated his government's adherence to its demand for UNAMID to hand over the six persons to the authorities.

"We insist to present the perpetrators to a fair trial. There is no room for courtesy in this respect, whether with UNAMID or any other trend", Kasha said.

Source: Xinhua