August 27, 2025
The Darfur Victims Support Organization has received direct testimonies from eyewitnesses and reliable sources inside the Humanitarian Assistance Center in Agadez, Niger, confirming that on August 21, 2025, police authorities arbitrarily arrested a group of Sudanese refugees without any legal basis. The detainees are:
1. Mohamed Abdullah (27 years old)
2. Abdallah Hashim (27 years old)
3. Imad Yousif (30 years old)
4. Zubeida Abdelgabar (33 years old, widow and mother of one child)
5. Nour Alhuda Musa (28 years old, mother of five children)
6. Zahra Dawood (33 years old, mother of one child)
The detainees were forcibly transferred to Ingimi, a remote area on the western border between Niger and Chad, where they have been isolated from their families, with lawyers and relatives denied access to them. This constitutes a grave violation of international refugee protection standards. Reports indicate that some of the detainees suffer from chronic illnesses, including hypertension and diabetes, which further exacerbates their already dire humanitarian situation.
The Darfur Victims Support Organization expresses its profound concern over these violations and stresses that such actions stand in clear contradiction to Niger’s obligations under international conventions on the protection of refugees and displaced persons—most notably the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Accordingly, the Organization calls for:
• The immediate and unconditional release of all detained refugees.
• Granting their families and legal representatives full access and communication rights.
• An end to all forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment against refugees.
• An independent and transparent investigation into these violations and accountability for those responsible.
The Organization urges the Nigerien authorities, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other relevant international bodies, to take urgent action to ensure the protection of Sudanese refugees and safeguard their fundamental rights.
