لحـظـة مـن فضـلك!

Quote: They entered the house and told us to hurry and pack all our things into a waiting lorry. They were rushing and threw my beds into the lorry breaking 4 of them. They then burned the 4 mattresses left behind saying “there is too much to do today ‘Junubi’ (southerner) we want to move on, no time for these things” Abu Sin Thok, 48 yrs. Old, Born in Gogrial, Bar al Ghazal State Sudan has the largest population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the world. An estimated two million IDPs, live in the official IDP camps and unofficial “squatter areas” in and around Khartoum. Many of the IDPs have fled the conflict in south Sudan and more recently, the conflict in Darfur in Western Sudan. Many of these face forced evection from their residence as the Government pushes ahead with its project to’re-plan' all IDP and squatter settlements in and around Khartoum. The majority of those who do not manage to secure a place on the newly re-planned land, are dumped in a far flung area called Al Fateh III. 55 kilometres from Khartoum, Al Fateh III is at the very end of the tarmac road leading into the desert. It has next to no essential services. Water, sanitation, and healthcare-almost all are provided by NGOs and the UN. Transport to Khartoum is costly beyond the means of the impoverished residents who cannot find any other work in Al Fateh III. Many who have been left here still do not have security of tenure-they do not own the land they have been moved to and could be forcibly evicted again. Facts According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) There are: four million IDPs in Sudan (excluding Darfur) two million are now in Khartoum , the capital of Sudan 325,000 are offered protection in four official IDP camps 1.7 million have established around 30 informal settlements, so-called “squatter areas” Amnesty International interviewed a large number of people who gave very similar accounts of the manner in which the forced eviction and relocation was carried out. According to these interviews, forced evictions generally occurred in the early morning with no prior announcement. Security forces arrive with lorries to collect the people and their possessions while bulldozers are brought in to clear the old settlements for re-planning. If residents resisted the demolition they were usually beaten or intimidated. In the wake of violence during the attempted mass forced eviction at Soba Aradi in May 2005, an agreement was made between the Governor of Khartoum and a Consultative Committee on Re-Planning Affecting IDPs (the Consultative Committee) composed of foreign missions, Donor representatives, UN representatives, and the Governor’s office. Under the terms of this agreement the Governor promised to place a moratorium on all relocations until these could be better planned, assuring relocation would be voluntary, not forced, and that new areas of residence would meet international standards for provision of basic services Read more Sudan: The rights of Khartoum’s displaced must be respected Sudan: Investigations into John Garang's death must be independent Sudan: Further information on Fear of torture or ill-treatment/ fear of arbitrary arrest New concerns: Incommunicado detention/ Death in custody ORAL STATEMENT BY AMNESTY INTERATIONAL- DISPLACED PERSONS IN SUDAN Contrary to his word the Governor undertook another forced evection and relocation in August in Shikan camp. As in past forced evections it was surrounded by security forces in the early morning, demolished, and the majority of its resident’s transported to Al Fateh III. K, 28 yrs old, with family of 6, and has been displaced since 1989 said: “When the police came that morning we loaded our things on to the lorry as we were told to do. Some resisted but we saw they were beaten and so we cooperated. We were given a plot card by the engineer, and we got in the lorry with no idea where we would be taken. Later that morning when we arrived in Al Fateh III no one assigned us a plot for 4 days. We built a ‘Rakuba’ (lbasic shelter) from the materials we had brought with us. We stayed for 2 months and the NGOs gave us some things, but the rain and wind were intense, its far, and there is nothing there. In the end I brought my family back here to Shikan. Even if it is illegal its better than Al Fateh III. (Testimony taken from Shikan resident relocated in August) Forced evictions by the authorities and the forced displacement of people to areas which lack even minimum essential levels of food, water, health care and shelter represent violations of a range of human rights including rights to adequate housing, freedom of movement and choice of residence. These rights are guaranteed in international human rights law -- including both International Covenants on Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to which Sudan is a State party. The relocation also violates the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which are a set of widely endorsed non-binding principles drawn from international human rights law AI expressed concern on The Sudanese Government’s current re-planning exercise which violate international human rights law as well as create urgent humanitarian needs.