Refugee agency expelled from S.Darfur-state media
Source: Reuters
(Recasts with IOM spokesman in Geneva) KHARTOUM, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Sudan has expelled the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) from South Darfur state in a row over refugees, state media said on Wednesday, but the Geneva-based agency said it was unaware of any such move. The Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) said the step was taken by authorities in South Darfur, which accused IOM of urging the 2.5 million people in camps there not to return home. "The government of South Darfur state has decided to expel the International Organisation for Migration from the state," said SMC, which has close links with Sudanese state security. It quoted assistant humanitarian commissioner in South Darfur Sarour Ahmed Abdallah as saying the IOM representative was discouraging people in camps from returning to their villages. But IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy said in Geneva: "The IOM has not been notified of any expulsion order out of South Darfur state." The resettlement issue had been defused at a meeting with authorities on Saturday, he said. Chauzy said the head of IOM operations in Sudan, Mario Tavolaj, had briefed him on the meeting with the authorities. "He said that it was very successful," Chauzy said. "The allegations were defused ... We are not influencing the return process." The IOM is an inter-governmental organisation that promotes humane and orderly migration. Sudanese government officials were not immediately available for comment. Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council said it was being forced to withdraw from South Darfur because of what it said was obstruction by authorities. Sudan denies obstructing aid workers, but accuses many of making political statements about the conflict in Darfur, where the world's largest humanitarian operation is underway. Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed in 3-1/2 years of conflict in Darfur. Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting the remote west. U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland arrived in Sudan on Wednesday ahead of a trip to Darfur after weeks of delay by Khartoum. Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha has so far declined to meet him and the government has said security is unsafe for him to travel to any of his proposed destinations in Darfur outside the state capitals.
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