Darfur: The Quest for War and Peace
Muawad Mustafa Rashid
As the rainy season is inching, most Darfur inhabitants start their preparations for the fertility period in this rich region with its natural resources.
This period is considered the season of welfare, but at the same time, the social concerns escalate fearing the eruption of tribal clashes between the farmers and cattle-herders over the water resources and grazing areas.
Recently, the tribal clashes escalated not only in the rainy season but all over the year as the issue is not limited to conflicts over water resources but it became one of the civil war consequences which affected negatively the social fabric, besides the escalation of the hate and negative speech by the politicians.
The Seasonal Return:
Most of the IDPs and refugees are hoping to return to their home village to resume their natural life within the voluntary repatriation. They want to return and start preparations for cultivating their fertile lands, but at the same time, they are fearing from security threats which represent a major obstacle to their return.
There are thousands of families in the IDP camps who are living in dire poverty as they depend on international aid.
They are also facing the risk of death due to the control of armed groups over the camps which impose strict orders on the displaced persons besides forceful levies to be paid by the IDPs.
Even the international aid is reduced and there are no job opportunities for the youth a matter that caused depression among the youth who are now thinking of joining any of the peace signatory armed movements to get salaries that might help them in providing their basic requirements.
The resumption of the bloody clashes in Darfur brings to mind several questions on the fate of the peace agreement signed between the government and the arm struggle movements on October 2020 in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan State (Juba Peace Agreement), and whether the region is heading towards another civil war.
The return to the civil war in the Darfur region and the renewal of the conflicts is due to the absence of the government authorities and its fragile steps to bring about control.
It is high time for the government to take the required steps to stop any conflicts and bring back stability in the region considering that the conflict has its political dimensions.
If we look deeply at the recent incidents and compare them to the previous ones we will recognize that both have a close relation to the conflict over power share which resulted in the fragmentation of the native administration in the region.
Let us hope that the current visit of the Vice President of the Sovereign Council, 1st Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo contributes to mending the social fabric, considering his honest call for restraint and peace so that the hydra of ethnic violence is nipped in the bud.
