Explanation:
Understanding Darfur conflict:
The name Darfur is from "dar fur" which in Arabic means "the land of the Fur". Historically, it was an Islamic sultanate located in the western Sudan. The Fur were the ruling ethnic group in the Darfur region before1916 . The Fur began to be converted to Islam in the 1300s. In1596 , the Darfur Sultanate was established and Islam declared the state religion. The Darfur sultanate remained independent through various conflicts in the Sudan, including the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of the Sudan in1898 , before finally being subjugated by the British in 1916and made part of western Sudan. Darfur's long history of independence, and its resistance to various other groups seeking control of all of Sudan, should be taken into consideration to properly understand the present situation.
Darfur is home to some 80 tribes and ethnic groups divided between nomads and sedentary communities. The rebels seem to be drawn from within mainly three communities of the Fur, Massalit and the Zaghawa tribes. The war has inevitably focused upon those areas of Darfur within which the insurgents chose to base themselves. As has been the case in countless wars, many civilians have chosen to flee and remove themselves from these war zones. Although the indigenous peoples of Darfur (the Fur, and several other ethnic groups) and the Arabs have always have relatively distinct identities, they generally got along well until resources became scarce, then ethnicity and race became a factor in the conflict.
Darfur has historically been one of the most remote regions of Sudan. Even in normal circumstances, the region is hard to reach because it is so far from the capital, Khartoum. Tribal and ethnic conflicts are neither new nor uncommon. Incidents of both small and large scale conflicts are recorded as far back as 1939 and they generally arise from disputes over access to natural resources like range lands and water points as well as livestock trespassing (grazing on farm lands), closure of herd routes and cattle raiding. Larger conflicts normally emerge from tribal disputes, banditry and disputes with transnational migrating communities. The influx of modern small arms since the war in Chad has increased the loss of life during such conflicts and caused polarization on ethnic lines. Historically, North Darfur and parts of West and South Darfur have suffered recurrent droughts. Crop yields have remained low and unpredictable due to erratic rainfall, pest infestation and the lack of agricultural inputs. Livestock has also dwindled due to pasture and water scarcity. The local labor force has continued to migrate in search of employment leaving behind children, women and the elderly. A combination of these factors over several years has systematically eroded the coping capacities of communities.
The pattern of conflict changed from low-intensity, small-scale outbreaks from the1950 s to the1970 s, to high-intensity, persistent and large-scale battles in the mid-1980s. These conflicts have included those between the Rezegat and Maaleya (1968), Salamat and Taayesha (1980), Binihelba and Meharya (1980), Zaghawa and Gamar (1989). The prolonged drought that began in 1983 drove nomadic Zaghawa and Arab groups southwards into the central Fur region of Jebel Marra. By the time of the 1989 peace conference, several thousand tribesmen had died, tens of thousands had been displaced and40 , 000homes destroyed. These conflicts have been between nomadic and sedentary communities, and amongst and within nomadic and pastoralists.
