Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs
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The Factors Affecting the Civil War in Darfur Region-Western Sudan

Adil H Ibrahim^{* *}Correspondence: Adil H Ibrahim, Department of Political Sciences, Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, Kasihan, Indonesia, Tel: 249924840025, Email:

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Introduction

Civil war researches, particularly among political scientists and economists, have recently become academic, big business. A burst of intellectual interest in such a major problem often has two sources: the internal dynamics of academic disciplines themselves and the external trends in the wider world that scholars may expect to influence their findings. The ongoing civil war study boom, as it was called, has both these reasons [1]. Economists studying underdevelopment have identified civil war as one of its main causes, especially in Africa. Darfur is a vast area situated in the western part of the Republic of the Sudan. The region has witnessed an armed and brutal conflict and violence involving the central government in Khartoum and a number of armed factions from the region who revolted against the central government, making several demands. The conflict escalated dramatically in 2003, which later led to an international community intervention. The UN security council issued resolution number 1769 on 31^st July 2007 to bring stability and peace to the war-torn region of Darfur [2]. The resolution led to the formation of the United Nations and the African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) with the purpose of providing humanitarian assistance, peace-making and peacekeeping. The core mandate of UNAMID is the protection of civilians, contributing to security for humanitarian assistance, monitoring and verifying implementation of agreements, assisting an inclusive political process, contributing to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, as well as monitoring and reporting on the situation along the borders with Chad and the Central African Republic. The mission is formed of civil international personnel and military personnel. English is used as the official language of communication among the members of the mission. Darfur is one of the biggest geographical regions in the country with an area of about 493,180 km² and a population of approximately nine million. The region is inhabited by a diverse range of ethnic groups, speaking a range of indigenous languages, along with Arabic spoken as the predominate language of communication (Lingua Franca) among these groups [3]. These groups are broadly divided into two main divisions: Arab and non-Arab ethnic groups. The researcher attempts to find the answer for the following questions:

• How the conflict happened in Darfur?

• What factors affecting the conflict in Darfur?

Materials and Methods

The study which was on the topic (managing ethnic conflict in Darfur: An analysis the third-party intervention). His study examined that the conflict in Darfur need the third party interventions such as humanitarian aids, while the military and diplomatic interventions would have neutral or negative impact, military aid as one of third party will increase the violence and causes the tensions. However it seems that diplomatic aids may have positive effect to the solutions of Darfur issue [4]. In addition to that there is study of that titled (the role of civil society organisations in conflict resolution: The case of Darfur region-Sudan), the study covers areas like the root causes of civil war in Darfur, the role of the roles and then tried to provide some possible solutions to the conflict. Although, the role of CSOs in conflict resolution in Sudan have started slowly through limited involvement during the peace process where the government involved native administration and some intellectuals and dignitaries in peace process but it evolved to full participation in the recent years and the involvement of the CSOs in the conflict has significant impact in containing the intensity of conflict [5]. Conflict in Darfur is more periphery centre oriented with claims of unjust, power and wealth sharing at central level that has recognized the rights of other under developed parts of the country therefore any peace process should include other non-armed opposition groups to achieved just peace and for all the people of the Sudan. According to the previous studies, the factors that affecting the civil war in Darfur are: injustice, discrimination, less development, social structure and marginalization [6].

Theoretical framework

The concept of civil war: A civil war, also known as an intrastate war in polemology, is a war between organized groups within the same state or country. The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region or to change government policies. The term is a calque of the Latin bellum civile which was used to refer to the various civil wars of the Roman Republic in the 1^st century BC. Towards an understanding of contemporary intrastate war. government and opposition [7].

A civil war is a high-intensity conflict, often involving regular armed forces, that is sustained, organized and large-scale. Civil wars may result in large numbers of casualties and the consumption of significant resources. Most modern civil wars involve intervention by outside powers. According to Patrick M Regan in his book civil wars and Foreign Powers (2000) about two thirds of the 138 intrastate conflicts between the end of World War II and 2000 saw international intervention, with the United States intervening in 35 of these conflicts [8].

A civil war also can be defined as an armed conflict that meets the following criteria:

• The war has caused more than 1,000 battle deaths.

• The war represented a challenge to the sovereignty of an internationally recognized state.

• The war occurred within the recognized boundary of that state.

• The war involved the state as one of the principal combatants.

• The rebels were able to mount an organized military opposition to the state and to inflict significant casualties on the state.

Conflict is an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles. It is present when two or more parties perceive that their interests are incompatible, express hostile attitudes, or take pursue their interests through actions that damage the other parties. These parties may be individuals, small or large groups, and countries [9].

Traditionally civil war has been presented as a contest of two competing professional armies, civilians being bystanders. And these two competing armies are presented as each, homogeneous group, seeking to win the war and defeat the enemy [10]. It has also been portrayed to be driven by political grievances and aim, which is to take control of the state. However, civil wars in lowincome and weak states were not in many cases a simple contest between two sides, either rebels versus government forces or between two rival ethnic groups. It has also come to be recognised that economic dimensions of conflict ‘war economies’ are essential in fully understanding the nature as well as political ideologies and grievances [11].

Classifications of conflicts: Four general classifications of conflict have been distinguished.

• Internal conflict (intrastate conflict) is one in which the number of legislative specialists of a state is restricted by using arms to oust experts.

• International conflict or interstate clashes again occur between at least two countries and include the political powers of more than one state.

• Non-state conflict is the utilization of military force between two composed gatherings, neither of which is the legislature of the state.

• Extra-state conflict happens between a state individual from the worldwide framework and a political unit outside of its regional limit [12].

The appearance of civil war in Darfur: It is not something recent, existing conflicts in Darfur, before armed conflicts it witnessed different peaceful movements such as: Red flame movement organization in 1964. The armed conflict which is running now started in February 2003 [13]. As the result of accumulation of big number of issues, whether they were political or economic in 2003 the crash started between government and the Sudan liberation movement army. The violent conflict in Darfur is characterized by massive population movement and unfolding humanitarian crisis. Since it is eruption in 2003, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and tens of thousands were killed. Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) figure are ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 Million [14]. In addition, there were about 200,000 refugees in Chad and about 180,000 to 300,000 allegedly killed. International response was late to the crisis in Darfur due to the several factors prevailing when conflict started in Darfur, in late 2002 international community and regional organization of Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) was involved in settling 20 years old conflict between government of the Sudan and Sudanese Revolution Army /Movement (SLA/M) of the south Sudan and efforts are exerted to settle south Sudan conflict as well there was ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan where UN and world powerful countries were busy in those areas, the general international context have delayed response to Darfur crisis however advocacy group continue to raise issues of growing Darfur crisis through the media and UN briefings [15].

In February 2003, the Darfur rebels of the Sudan liberation army shocked Khartoum by successfully assaulting government military forces in Fashir, the capital of North Darfur and achieving a string of military successes. In response, the Bashir government launched a vicious counter-insurgency campaign in Darfur, patterned after earlier campaigns it had conducted in southern Sudan and the Nuba mountains, using a proxy militia force, the so-called Janjaweed, made up of members of nomadic Arab tribes. In mid-2003, the government of Sudan pressed further in the Darfur area by arming the Janjaweed, Arab militia, and mobolizing the Popular Defense Force (PDF). Under government direction, the Janjaweed released a campaign of terror. United Nation officials have described the acts against the black African groups as ethinc cleansing. Men were executed, women raped, and more than 100,000 were forced into exile in bordering countries. The conflict in Darfur has persisted at fluctuating levels of violence over 16 years. More recently, violence subsided somewhat following a ceasefire in October 2016, only to flare again in April 2017. Clashes reignited initially in the Jebel Marra area between government militia and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW), and again in North and East Darfur in May between the Rapid Support Force (RSF) on one side and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement Transitional Council (SLMTC) on the other [16].

The factors affecting the civil war in Darfur: The factors that are affecting the war in Darfur can be shown as following (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The factors affecting the civil war in Darfur.

Injustice

After four decades of colonial rule Darfur had the dubious distinction of having the worst schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure of anywhere in Sudan, Independence in 1956 failed to alter its peripheral status. Darfur mattered little in national politics, receiving paltry funding for development, generating widespread resentment. Decentralization was eventually used as a means to address discontent, but Khartoum’s unwillingness to devolve authority and resources only increased tensions. In fact, by the early 1980’s the national government of Jaafar Nimeiri, an autocrat in power since 1969, faced financial collapse due corruption and mismanagement. Darfur’s famine in 1984-1985 confirmed the region’s marginality. Anger about it helped depose Nimeiri in 1985 but Darfur’s governance crisis deepened, some chiefs convened inter-tribal conferences to reduce tensions but the central government often proved unsupportive. By the 1990’s effective public administration was largely limited to Darfur’s main towns, while its ‘‘out of control “countryside spawned conflicts over land and political ascendancy .The Sudanese government had neglected Darfur when the current conflict, dating back to the mid-1980’s with intermittent violence, escalated in 2003, following a surprise attack by the Sudanese liberation movement/army on the airport at El Fasher, killing about 100 soldiers. A key catalyst was that Darfuris did not benefit from the oil discovered there in the 1970’s and the increasing marginalisation contributed to ethnic consciousness. Furthermore Since 1957, all of the prime ministers and presidents in Sudan were from a northern community, this being shocking in that the northern area constitutes no more than 5 percent of the total population of Sudan.

Social structure

Ethnic diversity alone is not a cause of armed conflict, but parties to a conflict are often defined by their ethnic identities. It is true that ethnic sentiments may inspire groups and communities to act in violent ways towards certain people whom they classify as other. The problem, however, lies in detecting the empirical basis of the sentiment. Ethnic tensions and disputes have existed in Darfur for centuries, yet despite this the Darfuri’s have managed to live in relative peace until recent. The ethnic groups which have commonly been described African or non-Arab include tribes such as the Tama, the Fur, the Daju, the Masalit, and the Senyar. Theses tribes are said to generally share a common characteristic (unrelated to their actual skin color or their religion) which is the fact that they all reside in the central areas of Darfur and practice a sedentary or agricultural form of living. The tribes which have commonly been described as Arab include the Reizegat, the Beni, the Ta’aisha, the Beni Helba and the Habbaniya. Like the African tribes, the Arab tribes also said to share as common demographic characteristic which is that they are involved in nomadic pastoralist lifestyles and that most of them live in the dry southern an northern areas of Darfur. It is certainly possible to argue that in Darfur ethnic groups tent to identify with either one of the two traditional subsistence patterns, yet it is not so certain whether this livelihood can be directly correlated with a primordial identity. Also land ownership and its use have been key sources of intercommunal dispute in Darfur, particularly between sedentary farmers and nomadic herders. Historically, land and water disputes between them were resolved peacefully, according to a set of customary rules that evolved over centuries. This flexible and intricate way of sharing resources through the traditional (Hakura) system prevented land disputes from escalating into major conflicts, but this system was gradually undermined and disrupted by the Sudanese government, which increasingly acted in favour of the herders.

Marginalization

Violence began in 2003 when armed groups retaliated against perceived economic and political marginalisation of Darfur. The two main groups were the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), which in 2006 split into two factions, the SLM-AW, and the SLM-MM, and the other was the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). In 2008 UNAMID was sent to the region as a peacekeeping force. Shortly afterwards, in 2009, following the issuance of an arrest warrant for senior leaders in the Sudanese government, 13 INGOs and 3 NGOs had their licences revoked. Violence increased dramatically in 2014 following the launch of a government military operation to end the armed opposition in Darfur. The level of violence subsided greatly in October 2016 following the signing of a unilateral ceasefire however, since April, the number of armed attack are on the rise again. At the national level, there were two important factors in the Darfur conflict: The contestation for the state of Sudan and another factor essential for understanding the current situation in Darfur is the constant marginalisation of the region since the time of independence. The marginalisation in itself is important but in particular the rising awareness of this process. People who are not aware of their marginalisation will not start a rebellion. The consciousness of marginalisation in Darfur increased in the 1960’s when Ahmed Ibrahim Draige founded a movement called the Darfur Resistance Front. This movement demanded more political representation for Darfur and argued that the voice of Darfurians was not heeded in Sudan. The lack of political representation of Darfur was apparent both during military rule and under the democratic regimes since Darfurian representation in parliament was very limited. In addition, the movement also demanded more development resources for Darfur. The idea of resisting marginalisation by violent means was also raised during the 1960’s when two different movements emerged. One of them was called Sooni (named of place in Jebel Marra, Western Darfur), which planned a military coup. These plans were never realised.

Absence of development

The war in Darfur also basis on poor development projects in region According to the prior to its first publication in 2000, there were 24.7 hospital beds per 100,000 people in Darfur and 151 per 100,000 people in the northern region. Also, in terms of medical care, it was found that there were 1.9 available doctors in Darfur per 100,000 people, whilst in the north there were 13.4 doctors available per 100,000 people. In terms of primary school enrolment, 31 percent of Darfurian children attend, whilst in the north, 88 percent of children attend. These examples go on and on and include equally stark contrasts in most other development fields, including the general lack of transport, infrastructure and agricultural development projects. Like many other developing countries therefore, Darfur is marked by extreme inequality. National economic statistics indicate that about half the nation’s income and assets rests in the capital of Khartoum, which contains less than 20 percent of the population. This figure rose from 8 percent in 1980, indicating a rapid urbanization rate. Also, about three-quarters of the countries health professionals are located in the capital. The surrounding area qualifies as a “least developed country” in which the majority of people live in absolute poverty.

Research methodology

This paper uses descriptive and qualitative method that portrays the phenomenon of the civil war in western Sudan-Darfur region. In order to collect data and information, the researcher used secondary data sources such as books, references, journals, newspapers, articles, reports, internet and other documents that is relevant to the topic. To analyse the data, the investigator used NVivo 12 Plus, selecting crosstab analysis and matrix coding.

Results and Discussion

To analyse the data, the researcher used NVivo 12 Plus and chose crosstab, matrix coding and cluster analysis (Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2: Crosstab query results-Radar.

Figure 3: Matrix coding query results–3D stacked bar.

Social structure

All the cases shows that, the social structure is the main factor that create the civil war in Darfur, as Washington, DC 2005 reported that, since 1994 the Darfur region divided into three states administratively; North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur, but today its divided in to five states, the previous mentioned plus Middle Darfur and East Darfur. The population of Darfur is around six million, including around eighty different tribes and ethnic groups, they can be divided into two the farmers and the livestock herder, the majority of farmers are Africans, while the majority of nomadic are Arab. The ethnic groups in Darfur involves Fur, Zaghawa, Masalit, Razaigat, Fallata, Bani Amer, Berty, Taisha, Mima, Tama, Zayadia, Midob, Arringa, Muhamid, and many other African and Arab tribes, some of the tribes exist in other countries like chad, Libya and Central Africa. In addition to this complicated situation the immigration is increased the new comers came from Libya, Chad and other countries, among this multiple community there is no tolerance, so it reflects in shape of tensions between the local populations and newcomers and it led to violence with the impacts in the neighbouring states. Between 1983-1987 armed conflicts had taken place between Fur, Zaghawa and Ma’allia which resulted in 5000 death, several thousands were displaced and around 40,000 homes were destroyed, it had stopped by local leaders and government in 1996 there was armed fighting between Zaghawa tribe and Rezaigat tribe in Darfur, in 1997-1999 there was armed conflict between Massalit tribe and some Arab tribes and in 1999 there was armed conflict between Medob and Kababish. If we followed the history line in Darfur region, we would find it is full of tensions and conflicts between the components of the society of Darfur.

Injustice

All the cases show that injustice is one of the factors that affecting the civil war in Darfur region- western Sudan, Sudan Watch pointing that it affecting very high. The black book gives very important information, it shows that the Northern Sudan only represent 5% of the total of Sudan’s population, Southern region 16% and Darfur region represent 20%. The book adds that all presidents of Sudan since 1956 (the independence) until today 2019 they are from North Sudan, also the national Ministers since 1989 till 2000, the North region represent 52% of the total of the National ministers, Southern region 13% and Darfur region 11%. Furthermore, the book shows that 74% of heads of constitutional courts are from North region, 13% from South and 13% from Darfur. Also it displays that 50% of the heads of the national internal security are from north region, 0% from South and Darfur. 44% of the heads of the national police forces from North, 0% from South and Darfur.

Absence of development

The crisis started in Darfur when two movements in western Sudan demanded development and equality vs other parts of Sudan, these two movements were Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLAM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), their emergency was in February 2003. In case of the human development, the black book had done the comparison between the three regions namely; North, South and West (Darfur). It can be shown as following Table 1.

Table 1: The comparison between the three regions namely; North, South and West (Darfur).

Marginalization

Marginalization is defined as: An involuntary situation and condition of group or individual at the margins of social, economic, ecological, political or biophysical systems, prohibiting those individuals or groups from accessing resources, services, assets, restraining choice freedom, preventing the progressing of capabilities and lastly causing the poverty. According to the definition of marginality, the researcher deducts the main pillars of the marginalization which representing in following points:

• Individuals or groups

• Disability to access their rights

• Poverty

Darfur region is suffering from marginalization and it represent in weak access of services, insufficient support of federal financial and corresponding reduction in central government. Furthermore, there is no good educational environment, there is no good health care system and no equal political representation in central government, also Darfurian suffering from poverty, there is very high unemployment.

Conclusion

This study has discussed the factors that affecting the civil war in Darfur region, these factors representing in social structure of Darfur community, injustice, absence of development and marginalization. According to the NVivo 12 Plus, the most significant factor that affecting the civil war in Darfur region is social structure, then absence of development in addition to injustice and marginalization. Also, all the cases except The Atlantic show the three main factors that cause the war in Darfur region. To access the results, the investigator used numbers of sources to collect data and information such as journals, newspapers, books, references and internet. The writer used NVivo 12 Plus to analyse data.

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