Sennar students detained during protest

Security forces in Sennar state have stormed a university and detained a number of students on Monday. Two are still held in detention. A protest speech by the students had preceded the move by the security service.

A student at the University of Sennar spoke to Radio Dabanga about the incident, claiming that 33 students were detained, and 31 of them were released on the same day.

The protest was aimed against the fact that the students have not received the benefits, allocated by the student support fund.

Members of the security service stormed the university and chased the students up into their dormitories, the student said. “They used sticks to beat us and tear gas.” He said that the two students who are still detained, are members of the Darfuri students' association in Sennar university: Adam Hussein and Musa Abdallah, of the Faculty of Resources.

In eastern Sudan, the National Movement for Change for East Sudan has condemned “the racist campaign to eliminate Darfuri students in universities and higher education institutes in Khartoum”.

El Amin Daoud, the head of the movement, described this phenomenon as a “serious and systematic trend that deserves the condemnation from all the Sudanese”.

Dozens of students from Darfur were detained after a high-ranking member of the National Islamist Students Movement, the student wing of Sudan's ruling party, was killed in clashes at Sharg El Nil College on 29 April. In the past week, several attacks by members of this student wing against other students, in particularly Darfuris, took place in Khartoum.