Jun 04

Displacement in Darfur (Sudan)

Darfur (Sudan)
June 4, 2013
Context: plight of IDPs
Note: original article (referenced below)

Since 2003 everything in Darfur has changed, including the culture of the IDP camps, impacting the local social structure. Darfur has been suffering from a major transformation, a new style of life. Today, the IDPs depend greatly on national and international organizations for all services, including accommodation. Before the war, IDPs depended on farm lands, where they would breed their cattle and carry out agricultural activities but along the way, they lost their lands and moved toward big cities, in search of security and shelter.

The issue of IDPs has opened doors for international involvement. The IDPs have been waiting desperately for ten years anticipating a better quality of life. A promise made by UN agencies but unfortunately people have been waiting for too long with the hopes of future as gloomy.
There is also a sense of uneasiness and worry about the existence of camps which begins to threaten the identity and culture of people. How to deal with this issue is an enormous challenge facing IDPs, local government authorities and international communities.

Mohammed Abdul (2013) suggests the solution should start from the IDPs themselves. They should face the challenge and correct the current situation, as the UN agencies talk of shortage of funding for Darfur, given the portfolio of other humanitarian crisis under the umbrella of the UN. In addition, Abdullah reminds that international support can’t be an ever-lasting process.

Reference: http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/article.html?rsnpaid=656
by Mohammed Abdullah (posted 05/06/2013)

srajput2

Dr. Sudha G. Rajput is the author of Internal Displacement and Conflict: The Kashmiri Pandits in Comparative Perspective (Routledge). Her 31-year career at the World Bank touched on multiple aspects of international development, working on thirteen countries of the former Soviet Union. Her co-authored book chapters appear in Scientific Explorations of Cause and Consequence across Social Contexts (Praeger) and in State, Society, and Minorities in Southeast Asia (Lexington Books). She writes for the Forced Migration Review. Her doctoral research has investigated issues of conflict-induced displacement in Kashmir, with a focus on societal and policy reform, leading her efforts to the development of a graduate course, Refugees and IDP Issues, drawing students from fields of conflict resolution, international development, humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding. She is a Senior Researcher at the Refugee Law Initiative, a U.K. based think-tank. She is a Consultant/Trainer for USAID, designing and conducting capacity building workshops in Khartoum, Sudan, promoting cross-border co-existence. As a Professional Lecturer, at George Washington University, she teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs, where she brings multi-disciplinary approaches to her course on Refugee and Migrant Crisis. She is a trainer for the Forage Center for Peacebuilding Education, where during a 4-day humanitarian assistance simulation, she coaches students on systematic understanding of protracted displacements. She teaches at the University of Maryland Global Campus, delivering the MBA program for the military students. Her interests on post-conflict issues include her past travels to: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Sudan, and Ukraine. Sudha’s blog on internal displacement can be found at www.internaldisplacement.info. Dr. Rajput lives in Washington, D.C. and can be reached at sudha_rajput@yahoo.com

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