In Darfur, while a peace deal was signed in October between the central government and several armed groups, the pacification of the province promises to be thorny. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people live in displaced camps and no longer have access to their land, which is occupied by other populations.
From our special envoy to Jabra,
The Jabra area is a group of villages inhabited by the Arab tribe Saada. People live there mainly from farms that grow sesame, beans and corn.
Abdallah Abdourahman is 48 years old. He praises good understanding with neighboring tribes:
“In the old days, there were conflicts. But now the region is safe. The tribes come together to settle their differences by means of religious wisdom. Today, there is no problem with non-Arab ethnicities. I eat at Four and they come to my house. We are neighbors, there is no tension between us, ”said Abdallah Abdourahman.
The imam of Jabra goes further. Abdallah Hussein says the area is the cradle of Saada and that these countries have belonged to them for generations. “The Saada was here even before the English colonization. We have been working for over 107 years. Our tribe was born and raised in this region. “
Saada accused of being attackers of Four
A contested version. Arab tribes fleeing the drought reportedly arrived in Darfur in the 1970s. Omar al-Bashir’s dictatorship allegedly used them as an armed wing to Arabize Darfur, leading to allegations of genocide and war crimes.
Witness to the conversation, Khaled Abdelmalik Hashim is outraged by what he has just heard. Of ethnicity Four he comes from a nearby locality. He accuses Saada of being attackers.
“They’re lying. They’ve changed reality. That’s why I came away from you. They’re lying because they want to stay here. Because this village belongs to someone else. The Saada came after the violence in 2003. The four lived here before, but they were displaced during “They fled to the Mershing camp,” he said.
A deep bitterness
Suddenly a group of people cross the path with carts pulled by donkeys. They are exactly displaced people from the Mershing camp. Ethnic four claim to be from Jabra. But the Saada Arabs caught them by gathering firewood and just chased them away. Elias Harun does not hide his deep bitterness.
“I own land right from here. But now there are settlers who will not let us come back. We had plantations and there is one of our wells. Our dead are in the cemetery. My father was killed and buried here. Seeing it today removes all the joy of life, ”he exclaimed.
These displaced people say the fall of the dictatorship and the peace signed in October have not changed their situation. For them, only a comprehensive agreement containing provisions and details on their return to their countries can resolve the violence in Darfur.
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