HIGHLIGHTS
About 1,000 newly displaced people from Mulli village move to Abu Zar IDP camp near El Geneina after protests and violence.
• An estimated 73,000 people need water, sanitation and health assistance in Um Dafug and Rahad el Berdi areas of South Darfur as identified by an inter-agency mission.
• Humanitarian aid corridor via Sudan to South Sudan is extended for six months.
• The Sudanese Commission of Refugees (COR) will start refugee status determination in Khartoum, with UNHCR being an observer.
About 1,000 people flee from violence in W.Darfur village to state capital, sparking violent protests
On 10 January, an estimated 1,000 people who fled Mulli village, 8km south of the West Darfur State capital El Geneina, staged a protest in front of the Wali’s (Governor) office.
The displaced people arrived in El Geneina following tension with pastoralists after a member of the pastoralist tribe was found dead near the village. The demonstration in the state capital subsequently turned violent and government security forces dispersed the protesters, with at least 12 people killed in the riots, according to media and other reports citing the Commissioner of El Geneina locality. On 11 January, the UN received reports that these newly displaced people from Mulli had left the Wali office premises and moved to Abu Zar internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in El Geneina town. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners are in the process of verifying this information amid the tense security situation in the area.
There are also reports of additional civilians on the move between Mulli and El Geneina, whilst the plight of those who remain in Mulli remains of particular concern. There have been reports that members from both tribes - the Beni Halba and Massalit - are mobilising for another confrontation. Humanitarian agencies will conduct a needs assessment and potential response to meet the needs of newly displaced people as soon as the security situation on the ground allows.
Meanwhile, the Government of Sudan will set up a committee to probe the incident.
West Darfur State has seen relative safety and less security incidents compared to other Darfur states over the past few years. However, there have been some sporadic instances of tension and localised violence between farmers and pastoralists especially during the harvest and seasonal migration periods.
In 2015, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) recorded 1,197 security events (instances of armed conflict, killings, riots, recruitment activities by partiers to the conflict, protests and violence against civilians, and non-violent events) in Sudan. With 809 individual events recorded, the Darfur region accounted for 68 per cent of all events in Sudan. In West Darfur State, 95 security events (about 12 per cent of the total for Darfur) were recorded by ACLED.