SUDAN: Durable solutions elusive as southern IDPs return and ...

for authority and allegiance among the IDP camps leaders with a vested interested in the status
quo and those wishing to see more dynamic or durable solutions.
Whatever might be the next steps, it is important to begin thinking creatively and contextually
about how to grapple with the challenge of Darfur’s displaced."
Eastern states
This brief overview of the causes of conflict in Sudan's eastern states relies heavily on Pantuliano
(September 2005) and sources quoted therein.
The conflict in eastern Sudan was driven by a complex set of interrelated factors, such as
historical feelings of exclusion and marginalisation, demands for fair sharing of power between
different groups, inequitable distribution of economic resources, underdevelopment, the absence
of a genuine democratic process and other governance issues, including the failure of national
leaders to address grievances dating back to independence. The loss of traditionally owned land
to mechanised agricultural schemes and the mechanisation of the port in Port Sudan were
particularly sensitive issues in the region. Environmental factors contributed to aggravate the
already dire socio-economic conditions of the population in eastern Sudan. Rampant poverty and
extremely high malnutrition and mortality rates created widespread anger amongst members of
the community and led long-standing discontent and grievances to erupt into conflict.
Eastern Sudan is made up of the three states of Red Sea, Kassala and Al-Gedaref. The area is
primarily inhabited by Beja pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. The area is also home to another
pastoral group, the Rashaida, who are mostly found in the Kassala area, although their migratory
patterns see them move throughout the eastern region, up to the Egyptian border and beyond. A
wide variety of ethnic groups from across the Sudan can be found in the two state capitals, Port
Sudan and Kassala.
Over the centuries the pastoral groups in the eastern states have devised strategies to cope with
the harsh environment, including water scarcity, extreme temperatures, highly variable rainfall,
and unproductive soils. The region experiences cyclical droughts every three to six years, and
regular outbreaks of famine.
The colonial policies of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium undermined the Beja’s traditional
coping strategies and led to a decline of the Beja’s pastoral economy. The expansion of a number
of agricultural schemes for cotton cultivation deprived the Beja of key pasture reserves which they
had used in years of severe drought, while the damming of the River Atbara for the irrigation of
the New Halfa Agricultural Scheme reduced the amount of downstream water in the area
occupied by the Beja. Land was also seized around the gold mines of Gebeit al Ma’adin and
Ariab.
At the political level too the Beja felt the effects of the British colonisation, through the imposition
of the Native Administration system in eastern Sudan. This system undermined the traditional
leadership and resulted in the creation of ruling elites which were not truly representative of the
local population.
In response to the discrimination felt during the British colonisation, the Beja in October 1958
founded the Beja Congress. Its main aim was to draw attention to the underdevelopment and
marginalisation of Beja areas and to advocate for more administrative and political autonomy.
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