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Kenya: Darfur Refugees Pray for Peace in Country
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The Nation (Nairobi)
17 February 2008
Posted to the web 18 February 2008
Dave Opiyo
Goz Beida
They may be several thousand miles away, but some Darfur refugees are keeping a close wach on the events unfolding in Kenya.
Those living in parts of eastern Chad are hoping that a permanent solution to the political crisis will soon be found by the group of eminent Africans, led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
Annan is leading the mediation team, which includes former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel.
Kenya, the refugees say, has been an island of peace in a turbulent sea that should not be allowed to disintegrate. They cite the pivotal role it played in coming up with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/ Movement.
And they gone as far as offering possible solutions, which include the formation of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission modelled on the South African one after its first truly democratic elections in 1994, and the election of a president who must not be either ODM leader Raila Odinga or Mr Mwai Kibaki of PNU.
Says Osman Imam Osman, a Sudanese refugee at the Oure Cassoni camp in Bahai district in eastern Chad: "Kenyans should forget about tribalism and get a permanent solution to this crisis.
"They should stop fighting each other and regard themselves as brothers and sisters. After all, they have stayed together for so long. I do not see why the people should turn against one another."
Ethnic cleansing
Osman says he witnessed fighting in Darfur, which turned into ethnic cleansing, and would not wish to see Kenya go the same way.
The current crisis in Darfur began in 2003. After decades of neglect, drought, oppression and small-scale conflicts in the region, two rebel groups - The Sudanese Liberation Army/ Movement and the Justice Equality Movement mounted insurgency against the government.
These groups represented agrarian farmers who are mostly 'non Arab black African' Muslims from a number of different tribes.
In seeking to defeat the movements, the Khartoum government is said to have increased arms supplies to local, tribal and other militia groups, which have come to be known as the Janjaweed.
The Janjaweed have wiped out villages, destroyed food and water resources and systematically murdered, tortured and raped hundreds of thousands of Darfuris.
More than two million people have been displaced because of the violence, and an estimated 500,000 have moved into camps in Darfur, eastern Chad and Central African Republic. "We don't want Kenya to go the same way. They in fact should be in the forefront of helping to find a permanent solution to the problems in Darfur and Chad," adds Osman.
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Tijani Adam Bakhat, another refugee told the Sunday Nation that the violence would not help Kenya to solve its social and political problems.
It will take seconds to destroy what the country has built over the years, he added.
"My message to Kenyans is that fighting is bad. If they continue to do so, it will spill over to other African countries. This will very much interfere with the search for peace in other areas like Darfur. That's what we are scared of."
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