Ma’aliya, East Darfur delegation discuss tribal tension

Prominent East Darfur State officials visited Abu Karinka on Wednesday to mitigate tensions between the Rizeigat and Ma'aliya tribes, facilitated by the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid).

During the meeting, Ma'aliya representatives stressed the loss of lives and property owing to frequent clashes between the two tribes. They said that they recently requested the Sudanese government to take action on issues of land ownership in the area, which has not happened yet.

The representatives requested the peacekeeping mission’s support in constructing an office for the Ma’aliya native administration or a traditional court in Abu Karinka.

The government delegation at the discussion included the Federal Social Welfare Minister, the Governor of East Darfur, the head of the Humanitarian Aid Commission, the Head of El Zakat (Alms) Chamber, the State Minister of Social Welfare, the head of the Health Insurance, the Saving Bank's manager and chairman, and the Social Studies Centre. They were accompanied by Unamid's civil affairs section.

The delegation was received by the Abu Karinka locality commissioner, the Ma’aliya native administration leaders and representatives of local communities on Wednesday.

Concerns about basic health care and educational services in the area were raised by representatives of the women’s union, while the Federal Minister for Social Welfare, in her speech, focused on the need for social peace as well as the importance of peaceful coexistence between the two tribes.

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, to the extent that fear of being caught in new clashes prevented the movement of nomads with their cattle to the north early August.

Ma'aliya members of the East Darfur Youth Commission staged a sit-in in Ed Daein on 23 August, in protest against the silence of the authorities regarding the repeated clashes between the Ma'aliya and Rizeigat. They expressed their discontent that after each reconciliation conference, new tribal conflicts erupted, with disastrous results to the civilian population.