By Lontong Ibrahim
20 students from Darfur region have been arrested by the Sudanese Police, following a sit-in to protest the rejection of Al-Azhari University to exonerate Darfurians from tuition fees.
A statement issued on Monday by the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, SCP, noted that five female students and the general-secretary of Darfur Student League, Abel Rahman Kakoom, were among the detainees.
It further stated that, the student decided to stage the protest following the university’s decision to request Darfur students to pay the tuition fees.
The anti-riot police cordoned off access to Al-Azhari University in Khartoum for the second day despite the fact that the students have organized a peaceful protest based on a presidential decision to exonerate Darfur students from the fees.
Sudan Tribune reported that, in December 2016, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced that 2016 was the last year to exempt Darfurians from the universities fees, in line with the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.
About 4,400 students from Darfur in the Sudanese universities benefited from the decision, according to the ministry.