DanChurchAid
Sudan
Ready to run
The huts on the outer limits of Um Gozen Camp are empty. The only signs of life are a pair of black slippers and a door made of tins from the World Food Program. A middle-aged woman gives a tour of her old home - two huts and a shelter.
She used to live here with her four daughters and two sons, but they moved for fear of their lives. The militias come from the mountains on the horizon, just on the other side of the thorn hedge surrounding the compound.
"The militias came at night and threatened us. My neighbour got his donkey and cattle stolen. He cried for help, but no one responded. The militia men fired shots in the air," says the widow, who has now moved in with her sister in the middle of the camp, where she feels safer.
"If you try to fight the militia, they will kill you," she says.
The family of seven now lives in one hut. Security is better, but the family is ready to run if the militias attack the camp. Under the bed, two sacks from USAID are already packed with clothes and the children's school books. The family's food is packed in an iron box with a padlock.
"I will put it on my head and run," the woman explains.
The single mother is not the only one who fears an attack. Several families from Um Gozen camp and the seven other camps surrounding Mershing have already headed south for the camps around Nyala, South Darfur's main town.
"There is no security in Mershing. The militias are patrolling just outside the camp," says a woman in a pink tob, a traditional Sudanese cloth wrap.
As in many other camps in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, it is dangerous for the women to venture outside the camp to fetch firewood.
"Sometimes the militias kidnap the women and keep them overnight. They are released in the morning," says another displaced woman.
The men stay inside the camp's futile walls. Militias are no more than one kilometer away. One of the women says that a man was kidnapped more than a month ago. Still nobody knows where he is.
The militias are too strong
The people of Mershing have good reason to fear an attack. Five months ago, the town and its surrounding camps were abandoned because of a militia attack. Some 55,000 people * the internally displaced and the host community * fled to neighbouring Menawashi.
International agencies, including ACT-Caritas, intervened immediately to provide humanitarian assistance and to mediate between the parties. The displaced people wanted to continue on to the camps in Nyala, but the authorities were not keen on increasing the number of people in the already over-crowded camps. After negotiations, the displaced people of Mershing agreed to go back if they were provided with protection.
The police commander and some of the police forces were replaced, and the African Union (AU) was to increase patrolling in the area.
The security situation in Mershing improved for the first couple of months, but in April it began to deteriorate again. Militias ride close to the camp; they threaten people at night and steel their belongings, say the women and men of Mershing.
"The police do their job, but Mershing is big. The shooting comes from the outskirts of the camp," says a staff member of one of the local organisations working in the camps.
Just north of Mershing is one of the militia's strongholds. Malam is a "no-go" area for all international agencies.
"We also have a military base here, but it is not enough," says the NGO staff person.
Warnings are the same
The local organisations in Mershing have done everything they can to alert the United Nations, the AU and other international agencies about the increasing insecurity, but there is not much they can do. The AU patrols once in a while, but the effect is limited.
"The militias stay away when they see the AU, but when they are gone, the militias come back," says one of the displaced men.
The last time Mershing was attacked, the international community was warned one month ahead by the local organisations in the area.
"Now we hear the same outcries from the people. They say that they want to flee and that nobody is helping them," says an employee of a local organization.
The people of Mershing and the local organisations would like to have an AU base in the town or international troops present. When the town was attacked in January, the AU was a constant presence for a week, and the number of attacks and assaults decreased. And the Sudanese police did a better job, according to organizations.
"We would like to see a U.N. office here and more international agencies. If we want to talk about our problems, we have to go all the way to Nyala," says one of the men from the camp.
A leader from the youth group states that the international agencies have the power to put pressure on the authorities and make them change the situation. They can also report what they see.
"If we do the same, we will run the risk of getting arrested."
The AU is well aware of the tense situation, and they have said that if they get more resources, Mershing would be one of the priorities for an AU base.
The ACT-Caritas operation is working in Mershing through local partners * Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO), the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) and SudanAid * which are running a clinic, schools and social programs.
(Names of individuals have not been used to protect their identities.)
DanChurchAid is a member of ACT International - a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations present in 200 countries and territories.
