Nairobi, February 23 (Darfur24)
Sudanese families have reported that several students have gone missing after being detained and prevented from traveling to sit for secondary school certificate examinations scheduled for April in areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The father of two students arrested in West Kordofan told Darfur24 that his sons, Ahmed and Abdullah, disappeared days after their detention in January by the Rapid Support Forces.
He explained that the incident occurred while they were traveling from East Darfur to White Nile State to attend examinations after obtaining seating numbers in the city of Rabak.
The father, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the last information he received indicated that the students were held at a prison in Al-Fula alongside an estimated 70 other students.
He added that female detainees were later released, while young men were transferred to detention facilities in South Darfur in line with procedures followed at Al-Fula prison.
After weeks of searching detention centers in Nyala, the father said he found his sons’ names on detainee lists but could not locate them inside the facilities, noting that dozens of families are facing similar uncertainty regarding the fate of their children.
Civil administrations in Darfur areas under RSF control have barred secondary school students from traveling to army-held territories to take exams. Families say the measures resulted in the detention of hundreds of students and young people, particularly along routes passing through the Kordofan region, with many reportedly transferred to undisclosed locations in South Darfur.
Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, most students across Darfur and large parts of Kordofan have been unable to sit for secondary school certificate examinations, except for a limited number who managed to reach White Nile, Northern, and River Nile states.