Web of War

by Massimo Zaurrini / MISNA

WHERE DOES THE DARFUR CRISIS BEGIN?

What lies at the root of the disastrous humanitarian situation in Sudan’s Darfur region? The answer brings together ethnic tensions, religious difference and – perhaps above all – international interest in oil deposits. 

Sudan is not only the largest country on the African continent but it also represents the frontier between the Arab world and black Africa. Since their independence in 1957, the populations in Sudan have seen barely ten years of peace; for the remainder of the time the country has been regularly shot through with more or less serious crises.

The sometimes irremediable gap between the central Arab and Islamic government of Khartoum and the outlying regions populated by various black African ethnic groups has fostered economic, political and sometimes also religious variables, creating the prerequisites for a chronic state of conflict.

Huge proportions

The crisis in Darfur, the most recent in chronological order, has taken on such huge proportions as to have forced its way onto the global media stage: in less than two years the fighting between rebels and government forces and the violence carried out by the Janjaweed (armed gangs of Arab predators) have led to a humanitarian crisis on a vast scale. The United Nations (UN) estimates that over one million people have been internally displaced, almost 200,000 people have sought refuge in neighboring Chad and thousands have been killed (5,000 according to the Sudanese government, 30,000-50,000 according to the UN).

In the semi-desert Darfur region the size of France, the reasons for conflict that hold throughout the rest of the country are compounded by the fight for fertile land, which has diminished over the years and with the progression of desertification. Here, the differences between Arabs and non-Arabs (as the Sudanese populations tend to be classified by academics and anthropologists) are also to be seen in the activities undertaken by the two groups: the Arabs, nomads who are mostly involved in herding, move around the region in search of pasture in accordance with the seasons; instead, the black Africans are mostly sedentary farmers whose claim to local land ownership has its roots in history and in the independent sultanates that held sway for centuries.

Tormented history

For all that the differences between the two groups seem atavistic, the history of Darfur has not been marked by constant land disputes; on the contrary, they have lived together for years and any violence over the control or use of land has always been resolved in accordance with the tribal code. However, over the years the gap between the two faces of Sudan has widened, while the state of political and economic abandon to which Khartoum has condemned peripheral areas has been compounded by a new awareness among the black populations.

The war for independence fought by SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) against the central government in the south has deepened the already clear division between the two Sudans. The presence of oil and important international interests has done the rest.

Peace agreement?

The crisis in Darfur and the exasperation of tensions and historical differences display a clear link with the tormented history of the south. The international community has practically forced Khartoum to reach an agreement with the rebels of SPLA and of south Sudan due to the oil that is present in the disputed areas, where American, Indonesian, Chinese and other companies have been active for years.

The agreement contemplates a referendum on the independence of the South six years after a definitive peace accord has been signed. Not only does the Sudanese government thereby risk losing control of a vast area but the accord also represents a worrying precedent with respect to the other black populations in the west and east of the country.

The oil interests have allowed the rebels in the south to make a qualitative leap, by obtaining funds, weapons and logistical and political support, but there is nothing to prevent the discontent felt by the black African populations in the rest of the country from being used against Khartoum.

Trouble brewing

While peace was being negotiated with the south, trouble was brewing in the west. At bottom, there is nothing surprising about this. Part of the Sudanese establishment is not opposed to the fact that the Arab predators (who seem to be mainly linked to the central government) are conquering ground in Darfur to the detriment of the black farmers, thereby offsetting the balance, according to a western diplomatic source.

Arabization or not, it seems that major international interests are about to come into play in Darfur, as they did in South Sudan. In Darfur, as in the South, put the global attention down to oil interests: according to some, the semi-desert region is rich in deposits, while others claim that it is key to exploiting the reserves in the south.