November 4, 2009
Saved from the death squads: Darfuris given asylum in UK
by Robert Verkaik
The Independent
Hundreds of Darfuris fleeing persecution in Sudan will be given protection in Britain after a government U-turn on its handling of asylum claims brought by refugees from the troubled African state.
The change of policy follows mounting evidence that non-Arab asylum seekers returned to Sudan face arrest, torture and death at the hands of the Arab militias and security services. In one case, highlighted by The Independent earlier this year, a Darfuri man repatriated to Khartoum was executed after government officers followed him to his village in the south of the region.
Under the new policy, released without announcement on Monday by the Home Office, all non-Arab Darfuris will qualify for asylum. The decision was welcomed by the Darfuri community in the UK, many of whom have been living under the threat of deportation.
Mariam Suliman, 30, a doctor from Darfur, and her husband, Sideeq Sharaf, 32, a science student, fled the state after their village was attacked by Arab militias who were supported by the Khartoum government.
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