NOTHING NEW AT DEMONSTRATION IN EL FASHER

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001782 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI AU SU CD SUBJECT: NOTHING NEW AT DEMONSTRATION IN EL FASHER ¶1. (SBU) On November 14 El Fasher local broadcasting stations announced that there would be a November 15 student demonstration to condemn the attempt of the French organization Zoe's Ark to "abduct" Sudanese children from Chad. UN agencies operating in El Fasher announced through their daily radio check that there would be a two-hour curfew in the morning between 0800 and 1000 during the demonstration period as a precautionary measure to protect staff and vehicles from any potential acts of violence or vandalism by demonstrators. ¶2. (SBU) On the morning of November 15, primary and secondary school students, chaperoned by their teachers, made their way haphazardly to the North Darfur Governorate Building, carrying banners and calling for an end to the "abuse and exploitation of Sudanese children." The North Darfur Wali, Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir, addressed the demonstration, speaking to the necessity of taking legal action action against Zoe's Ark workers and of reunifying the children with their families. The demonstrators dispersed without incident at 1100 local time, and regular activity in the area (near the center of El Fasher town) resumed. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT. The demonstration, like several before it in both El Fasher and Nyala, was acknowledged by locals as a Government-organized show intended to mobilize popular support for its campaign of discrediting the international NGO community in order to drive assistance providers from the IDP camps those organizations service and accordingly to compel returns. END COMMENT.