Dormitories raided in Sennar, 26 Darfur students detained

Dozens of students were injured, and more than 100 detained in Sennar, eastern Sudan, on Friday and Saturday night, during security raids of the students’ dormitories.

A student of the University of Sennar reported to Radio Dabanga that most of the detained were released, except 26 Darfuris, “among them one seriously injured”. “Darfuri students who were not held, are homeless now, living on the streets, without shelter or food,” he said.

He described how security forces, supported by militant students of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), stormed the dormitories on Friday night. “They beat and detained dozens of students, and torched the buildings and our belongings. On Saturday night, they came again, detaining those who had stayed.”

“Ilyas Osman, Seifeldin Abdallah, and Nejmeldin Abbas were seriously injured during the raids. Abbas, one of the 26 detainees, sustained a deep head wound,” he said.

The other detained students are Ma'ali Mohamed Ma'ali, Ahmed El Hafez, Ahmed Mekki, Mohamed Abuh, Mohamed Ishag, Salaheldin Yousef, Bahreldin Tijani, Malek Adam Mohamed, Ahmed Sharif, Jami Mohamed Abdamoula, Mohamed Osman, Mubarak Osman, Mujahid Yagoub, Mohamed Saleh, Saleh Ibrahim Adam, Bahreldin Adam Azrag, Abdelrahman Ibrahim, Mohamed Musa, Ahmed Kebeir, Amer Mohamed, Abdallah Mohamed Abdallah, Abdallah Ibrahim, Moataz Osman, Sami, and Ahmed.

“There is no institution that can protect us, or financially support our return to our families in Darfur”.

“Our humanitarian situation has become extremely difficult, “especially after we lost all our possessions”. “There is no institution that can protect us, or financially support our return to our families in Darfur”.

The chairman of the Sennar branch of the Darfur Students’ Association commented to Radio Dabanga that they were surprised that the Darfuri students were not released by the security forces. “It appears to be a direct and systematic, racist attack against Darfur students”.

He expressed his fear about the fate of the 26 detainees. “We do not know where they are being held. They may be subjected to ill-treatment and torture.”

Attacks on students

Darfuri students at Sudanese universities are increasingly subjected to discrimination, assaults, and detention. Last year, in November, Sennar University evicted a number of Darfuris when they could not afford to pay registration and tuition fees. Early this year, Darfuri students at the universities of Babanusa and West Kordofan were expelled. When they protested, they were beaten by security forces and NCP students. In March, a Darfuri student of the University of Khartoum was killed, and dozens were wounded in a raid government forces on the campus.

On 5 October, 70 Darfuri women students were violently evicted by security forces from El Zahra dormitory in Khartoum. Dozens of them were detained. The National Endowment Fund for Students had ordered a group of 70 Darfuri women students to vacate the boarding house, as the facility needed to be vacated for maintenance. The Darfuri students refused to leave, as they had nowhere else to go. 

Last Monday, government forces, together with NCP students, stormed the University of Bahri in Khartoum North, where the Darfur Students Association had organised a meeting to discuss the eviction of at least 48 Darfuri students for not paying tuition fees, and the University administration’s ban on wearing African dress, and a particular style of haircut. The compound was raided again on Thursday. Two Darfuri students disappeared, and 77 were detained.

According to the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, Darfuri students are exempted from tuition and exam fees. The stipulation was later enforced in an agreement between the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) and the federal Ministry of Higher Education. Nevertheless, several Sudanese universities have refused or evicted Darfuri students, who were unable to pay the fees.

Students in Khartoum told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday that security forces also have begun to inspect public transport. “They search the buses for young people of Darfuri origin. Any young person suspected to come from the western part of the country, is picked out, and detained.”

They described the detention campaign “based on colour and identity” as the “fiercest one since 2008, when rebel forces of the Justice and Equality Movement raided Omdurman”.