Photo Credit: Refugees International/ Sarah Martin
03/18/2006

After the death of John Garang, the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, in August 2005, there were riots throughout Sudan. Approximately two million displaced people lived in squatter camps or camps for internally displaced people (IDP) around Khartoum. The government in Khartoum retaliated by demolishing squatter camps and forcibly relocating people to desolate camps outside of Khartoum.

RI interviewed some IDP women living in one of these camps. We asked how their life was now. There was an uncomfortable silence and then everyone laughed. “They will not take care of school, health, or water. After the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] was signed, we felt a little safe but after Garang’s death we lost our confidence. Sometimes we are threatened and we are afraid to go to Khartoum where we must work.” Another woman added, “After Garang’s death, the discrimination got worse. The army and the police were patrolling and harassing us. They arrested us, put us in prison and some people just disappeared.” The group of women acknowledged that conditions in their areas of return were not ideal. Some were from the Nuba Mountains and others from Equatoria. “Even so, we will return,” they said. “It is not a good life we are living here.”