Darfur Union in the UK: Civilians of Fojo, Western Darfur Received Eid by Shelling from GoS

Millions around the globe celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan by receiving Eid on Friday, 15th June 2018. They celebrated with joy and warm greetings; not the people of Fojo, a small village resides in the outskirts of Golo, Jabel Mara in West Darfur. Their village was subjected to shelling by the government of Sudan (GoS) militia which caused havoc. As a result, three persons were killed (ref. 1) and their names are listed below:

1. Mariam Yousif Hamid

2. Dar Elsalam Yagoub Abbaker

3. Abdel Allah Ibrahim Salih

Furthermore three houses were burned among other losses in people belongings.  This is not an isolated incident, this area of Jabel Mara has been enduring a series of human right violation and shelling from Sudan Air Force from the beginning of this month. Western part of Darfur region has been subjected to bombardment campaign and systematic waves of violence by the GoS militias with the ultimate aim of clearing the ground of the native population to cause demographic change in the area (ref. 2).

Darfur Union in the UK among other civil society organisations plea to the UK government, US and EU and other major players in the international community to continue their efforts to end the suffering of our people by addressing the following:

The process of restructuring UNAMID to be a fully oriented force towards protecting Darfur’s displaced, and also to be more committed to documenting and addressing the aerial bombardment against civilian targets (ref. 3).

Darfur Union in the United Kingdom calls upon the international community to put pressure on the government of Sudan to stop targeting the civilian population of Darfur. Also to allow the humanitarian organisations to have full access to treat the wounded, and provide aid to the displaced people.

The peace process and negotiations needs an independent mediator. We ask major players (US, UK and EU) to be part of the process given Britain’s historic ties with Sudanand due to the current mediators seeming bias towards protecting dictatorships in the region.

We ask the international community to continue its support of the international criminal court and also should push countries not to receive President Bashir for visits (ref. 4). The UK should also urge the ICC to amend arrest warrants in light of recent atrocities and consider advocating for expansion of the mandate to include atrocities committed in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and other parts of Sudan.

Darfur Union in the UK and sister civil society organisations and Friends of Sudan are organizing a demonstration and mobilizing the masses across the England to descend to London on Saturday 30th June 2018 (ref. 5)  to register a urge Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) to take actions against the ongoing violence by the government of Sudan and its allies against the civilians of the country. Your presence will be important to give voices to the voiceless.

Osama Mahmoud – Deputy Press Officer, Darfur Union in the United Kingdom

Website: darfurunionuk.wordpress.com

Email: [email protected]

Twitter handle: @darfurunionuk

Ref. 1: Three More Darfuris Killed by Shelling in Jebel Marra

Ref. 2:

Ref. 3:

Ref. 4: The Prosecutor vs. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir – ICC-02/05-01/09