Demolition of the Shikan settlement, 18 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan,
has forced at least 11,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to leave since
December 28. The demolition is taking place as part of a rezoning policy in Khartoum
State. Shikan was home to over 13,000 people—including indigenous Nuba,
Dinka, and Masalit, and ethnic Majanin, Arab, Shilluk, Felata, and Khofra—who
were displaced by civil war in southern Sudan. A government official said the
rezoning program was designed to create land plots for residents and provide
vital services such as electricity and water. Kirsten Zaat, advocacy officer
for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Khartoum
told IRIN News that security forces gave the settlers no warning before forcing
them to leave the settlement. In the course of demolition, IDPs’ property,
the site's infrastructure, and a community center were destroyed.
The IDPs forced out of Shikan were moved to El Fateh, a desert area 38 kilometers north of Omdurman where 300,000 IDPs already live. According to Zaat, the Sudanese authorities made no preparations for the movement of IDPs from Shikan to El Fateh. As a result, people at El Fateh have limited access to water and food, no electrical grid or sanitation system, and no health or education services. Moving IDPs to El Fateh has also made it difficult for them to work in Khartoum as the cost of travel to the city is higher than their daily wage.
