East Darfur tribal tension halts nomads

The ongoing tensions between the Ma’aliya and Rizeigat tribes in East Darfur is preventing the movement of nomads with their cattle to the north.

“The violence in the area has stopped the eastern movement to the north,” Dafallah El Haj Jiddi, omda of Abu Jabra locality told Radio Dabanga.

“It is the biggest nomad migration in the region that always takes place in July and August,” he explained. “The annual trekking to the north starts in the area bordering South Sudan. The herders then move their livestock through Adila and Abu Karinka localities towards the eastern part of North Darfur.”

The omda said that in the south of East Darfur, an estimated 120,000 nomads with more than 1.5 million head of livestock are waiting for the track to open.

He appealed to the leaders of both parties to exert their efforts to facilitate the opening of the nomadic tracks. “The land is huge enough to accommodate all, if only the people in the area would listen to the voice of reason.”

In April and May fierce fighting erupted between the warring tribes in Adila and Abu Karinka localities. More than hundred people were reportedly killed, and dozens were injured. Though the authorities sent buffer troops to East Darfur, the tension remains high.

Promote peace

Mada, the Sudanese Centre for Community Studies, has launched an initiative to promote peace between Rizeigat and Ma’aliya.
Amira El Fadil, the director of Mada told reporters in Khartoum on Monday that the initiative is part of a project aimed at the restoration of the social fabric in Darfur. It is based on research conducted by the Centre into the best strategies to build peace and development in the war-torn region.