Dozens of students from Darfur demonstrated on Sunday in Babanusa after authorities suspended the departure of a train headed for Nyala citing security reasons. Students from Darfur who attend Babanusa Peace University in western Kordofan have been stranded there since the end of the academic year.
Witnesses told Radio Tamazuj that more than 300 students from the Darfur region demonstrated last Sunday in the railway station of Babanusa to protest the delayed departure of the train, which was supposed to take them to Nyala more than three days ago.
The student demonstrators walked from the train station to the city market, according to witnesses, demanding that the train be allowed to move. They were joined also by some of the city’s residents who began to chant anti-government slogans.
Police forces and security intervened to contain the demonstration. They asked to sit with a committee of the students. In a meeting between the local security committee and a number of students, the authorities assured the students that the train would move after the completion of security arrangements.
Related content: Pricy tickets strand students in Darfur-Kordofan rail town (18 July 2012)