Indigenous Land Rights and Conflict in Darfur: The Case of the Fur Tribe
Publisher: Land, Indigenous Peoples and Conflict
Author(s): Jon Unruh
Date: 2016
Topics: Land, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Chad, Darfur, Sudan
Land Rights in Darfur operate as a central feature of the conflict. Widely regarded as being at the heart of the war, land rights for the different indigenous groups involved in the conflict are complex, confused, sensitive, and volatile. Of the six recognized and agreed upon ´root causes´ of the war mentioned in the 2011 peace accord between the government and one set of the rebel factions, three dealt explicitly with land rights issues (Draft Dafur Peace Document (DDPD), 2011). In one of the most acute manifestations of the land rights problem, certain Arab pastoralists of northern Darfur were easily recruited into the Janjaweed for two primaray reasons, land and money (Flint, 2009).
This chapter examines the lan rights of the Fur indigenous group in Darfur and how these have interacted with those of other indigenous groups in the region and the state´s approach to land rights, to become highly contentious. Subsequent to a description of how the Fur indigenous land tenure has intersected with formal statutory tenure and Islamic law, and then focuses on the role and functioning of land rights in the conflict itself. This is done by exploring, 1) the stress, exclusion and resistance involving the indigenous tenure system; 2) the intrusion and confrontation of the statutory system, and 3) the role of Islamic law regarding land rights.