Displaced owners appalled at confiscation of shops in Darfur

Shop owners, who live in a camp for displaced people near Nyala, have complained about a decision by the Commissioner in El Salam to confiscate shops of which the owners have not paid the fees for years.

Owners of approximately a hundred shops, who now live in a camp for displaced people near Nyala, have complained about a decision by a locality Commissioner to confiscate shops of which the owners have not paid the fees and arrears.

One of the representatives of the owners, who have been displaced from villages in El Salam locality for years, told Radio Dabanga that the Commissioner's decision against them is “unjust”: “We cannot pay these fees, that have accumulated for 11 years, because we have no sources of income.”

The owners accused the Commissioner of planning to change the ownership of their shops to others. The number of shops they have left behind when the armed conflict erupted in Darfur is approximately 100, he said.

The owners live in Kalma camp in South Darfur after fleeing from Abu Ajura area in El Salam locality in 2004. Abu Ajura was burned to the ground during attacks, and the residents have not found themselve able to return “because of the unstable security situation there”.