Security situation in Darfur - Nov 25, 2009

Source: United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, November 25, 2009/APO
UNAMID Daily Media Brief / 2009-11-25

Security situation in Darfur
The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm, but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 60 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, covering 72 villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 137 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

Discharge of former combatants in Darfur
Following a recent initiative by the Government of Sudan (GoS), more than 300 former combatants, including women and disabled persons, participated in a discharge exercise from 22 to 24 November in El Fasher. It is envisaged that the programme will soon continue in other parts of Darfur, targeting a total of 5,000 former combatants affiliated with signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) who were disarmed in July 2008 when they formally surrendered their weapons to the GoS.

Those discharged in El Fasher include members of the Sudanese Armed Forces, People’s Defence Forces, and the Sudan Liberation Army/Mother Wing. While this is a unilateral initiative by the GoS, following an agreement with the DPA signatories, UNAMID agreed to offer logistical support to the exercise, including security, transport and health services. The GoS, on the other hand, is providing cash payments of 400 Sudanese Pounds (USD 150) for each participant, which will be followed by food vouchers and other services after two months.

Although the discharge exercise is not linked whatsoever to the development of a future programme for the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, as included in the mandate of the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission but for which there currently is no agreement on a policy framework in Darfur, UNAMID decided to assist the GoS in its efforts to strengthen the peace process and improve the overall security situation across the region.