Message from Mohamed Suleiman, President, SF Bay Area Darfur Coalition

Posted by nikki | posted in News | 0 Comments

On June 28th 2011, Sudan Tribune reported about a conference regarding water projects in Darfur. The conference, which was held in Khartoum, has just ended.

The international community and the donors will make a big mistake if they put such amounts of money in the hands of the regime in Khartoum to execute these projects for the following reasons:

• The regime in Khartoum is facing severe shortage in Cash. In a few days (9th of July) the southern part will be declared an independent state. With it will go 80% of the oil revenue. The government of Sudan is hunting now for every dollar to run a semi-bankrupt country. There is no guarantee that these funds will ever find their way to these projects.
• There are more than 3 millions of Darfuris in the IDP camps. These IDPs (internally displaced persons) used to inhabit thousands of communities across Darfur. Their villages and towns were destroyed through a deliberate campaign of displacement. New arrivals, who are supported by GoS (Government of Sudan) called janjaweed, are rewarded by GoS by allowing them to occupy the best lands and villages. Yes Darfur needs badly water projects which will contribute to peace and stability in Darfur. Yet before initiating such projects, the problem of the return of these IDPs to their villages and homes in peace and security, should be addressed first.
• Darfuris are growing suspicious of some of the international bodies (UN, Arab League, African Union). Under current situation, such funds would be mismanaged and wasted without proper monitoring and without participation of Darfuris themselves (the displaced persons, not the pro-government Darfuris).

As a Darfuri, I believe that the following points might be considered to ensure success of such projects:

• Just peace and security for Darfur should be the priority of the international community and the donors.
• No funds should be put in the hands of the regime of Khartoum. The donors and the International community should supervise directly the execution of such projects.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.