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BORO MEDINA - 25 Jun 2013

Darfuri refugees reach Raja County ‘traumatised'

Dozens of people have arrived in Raja County after fleeing South Darfur, escaping violence that they allege was perpetrated by government-backed militia in the region.

Fifteen households with a total of 51 individuals have left their home country due to inter-tribal clashes in Darfur that have overflowed into South Sudan.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj upon arrival in Boro Medina of Raja County, Musa Adam said that they fled their areas in Buram, Sunta locality, after Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)-supported militias affiliated to the Rizeigat tribe of East Darfur “attacked them and killed many people”.

“The Rizeigat militias backed by SAF targeted the Masalit, Kara and Fur tribes in their raids in Buram, Sunta locality in South Darfur,” he said. He added that many of their tribesmen were killed and buried in one place in Buram.

“We moved for many days on foot from Sudan to Timsa, South Sudan. The SPLA of South Sudan gave us a lift in one of their trucks to Boro Medina, where we have settled,” said Awadia Bilal, mother of six children.

She accused the SAF and the militias of Rizeigat of killing her husband and many other people in their raids against the Fur, Kara and the Maalad tribes of Darfur.

“My husband Ali Babakir was shot in front of me and my children by the SAF and its militias after they killed ten people from the tribes they are targeting in the road near our house in Buram,” she said while in tears.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj from the field, Mathia Arkhangelo who works for the South Sudan Relief Commission in Raja said that his office has so far registered 51 individuals who fled the inter-tribal clashes in Darfur region. “Our office has registered 15 households and 51 individuals who have fled the ongoing tribal clashes in Darfur,” he said.

He further said that those refuges reported that they come from the eastern part of Buram, and are running from the SAF and the militias affiliated to the Rizeigat tribe who attacked their homes in Sudan.

The County SSRC Officer, Peter Nenebubu, confirmed the arrival of the refugees from Sudan into Raja County and said that they have moved them to Boro Medina.

“We have done our part as County authorities to the refugees by settling them, but we do not have any food to give them” he said.

The Officer called on the humanitarian organisations in the country to come to the rescue of these refugees. He pointed out many refugees are in tears when they are asked what happened in their home country and why they are fleeing: “They are traumatised from the killing and the criminal acts committed against them by the Khartoum regime,” he concluded.

File photo: A Darfur village torched during inter-tribal violence