Merowe Dam, Sudan / Press Releases

As the African Development Bank convenes in Shanghai for its annual meeting, African and international civil society groups call for greater public accountability in China’s relations with Africa China’s expanding role in Africa may represent a great opportunity for development, but only if China is careful not to repeat the errors that Western powers made in the past.

Civil society demands an end to impoundment and resolution of resettlement issues as fears of violence increase

LONDON: More than 100 families were suddenly forced to abandon their homes on August 7 because of rising flood waters after the authorities at the Merowe Dam in Sudan unexpectedly closed the dam’s gates and began filling its reservoir. No warning was given of the impending flooding. The families, all from the Amri people, have been left without food or shelter. Six other villages are threatened with imminent inundation.

On April 22, 2006, the militia of the Merowe Dam authorities, armed with machine guns and heavy artillery, attacked the affected people of Amri village while they were gathering in the village school in the dam–affected area. The Amri communities have been vigorously resisting displacement in the past months. The attacking militia opened fire on people without warning when they were having breakfast in the school courtyard. Three people were immediately killed and more than fifty injured.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Merowe Dam in Sudan, the largest hydropower project currently under construction in Africa, is of poor quality and does not address many of the project’s potential impacts on the environment. These are the main findings of an independent review of the EIA which was just published by EAWAG, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology.

The Security Organ of the Sudan Government has taken measures and moved to haphazardly prosecute and arrest persons whom the Organ doubted as supporters of the Movement of Displaced by Hamadab Dam (MOD).