11/15/2004

In the early morning hours of November 2 and again on November 9, Government of Sudan security forces surrounded three camps within a five-mile radius of Nyala: Al Geer, Otash and Kalma. At Al Geer camp they forcibly removed all of the IDPs, numbering between six and nine thousand, to the new Saudi Red Crescent Al Surief camp in Nyala town. The authorities are accused of using tear gas, firing shots, raping women and burning shelters in the middle of the night. Some IDPs were shot and needed immediate medical attention for their wounds. Hours after the camp was stormed, 250 families were forced onto13 trucks and brought to a newly erected camp outside of Nyala. According to the staff of an international NGO that visited the camp, which was built by the Saudi Red Crescent, it was too small to house so many IDPs.