Herdsmen grazing land of displaced Darfur farmers

The displaced in the area of East Jebel Marra have requested their sheikhs, omdas, and other native administrators in the area to intervene and stop the selling of their lands in the region, as well as to thwart the herders who prevent them from cultivating their lands by force of arms. One of the displaced persons who have returned to their areas, especially Dubbo Al Omda and Dubbo El Madrasa, in East Jebel Marra, told Radio Dabanga that a group of herdsmen, allegedly armed by the government, stopped them from cultivating their farms upon their return. The herders told them that they bought the land from two of the areas’ residents, named Osman Rashid and Abkar Ahmed. The displaced are now appealing to the local and state authorities, of East Jebel Marra to intervene and address the problem in the area, in order to avoid any potential clashes between herders and the displaced farmers who are returning. Zalingei According to the coordinator of the Zalingei camps in Central Darfur more than a thousand families of herders, armed by the government, arrived at the regions of Nama, Dolo, Waad El Galaaja, and Gabel Midi. The coordinator told Radio Dabanga that the herders released their camels and livestock on the farmlands of the displaced by force of arms, causing terror and fear to the farmers. The coordinator appealed to Unamid and the authorities to remove the herders and protect the displaced. In the same area, in Nama, west of Milli valley, two displaced women have reportedly been exposed to a severe beating by four militiamen on camels. File photo Related: Herders kill East Darfur farmer, wound another in shooting (22 August 2013) Herdsmen beat 80-year-old woman in West Darfur: source (19 August 2013)‘Herdsmen graze livestock on Darfur farms at gunpoint’: farmers (31 July 2013)