Country: Sudan

Group: Fur

Date Finalized: 4/26/2021

Team: Samantha Bradford (lead), Arisha Khan, Ann Thomas, Abi Pentecost

There is ample evidence that ethnically targeted violence and land disputes forced the Fur people from the Darfur region of Sudan.

In the mid-1980s, drought drove Arab nomad groups of livestock herders into the fertile area inhabited by the Fur. The Fur struggled to hold claim to their land, and competition for land and water resources soon devolved into a racial conflict when Arab nomad militias, called Janjaweed militias, formed an alliance and declared war against the black and non-Arab groups of Darfur (Minority Rights Group, 2018). Fur counter-militias formed in response. Through the 1980s, Janjaweed militias killed 5,000 Fur, destroyed over 40,000 homes, and sent thousands of citizens fleeing (Minority Rights Group, 2018). In 2003, the Sudanese government recruited and mobilized Janjaweed militias against rebel movements made up of Fur and other African farming groups, leading to tens of thousands of deaths and millions of displaced peoples within the region and to Chad (Minority Rights Group, 2018). The government supplied these militias with weapons and promoted violence by providing such groups with the opportunity to loot belongings and gain access to land and water resources (Human Rights Watch 2005).

Through inciting ethnic division and proxy wars, the government committed many atrocities that forced Fur civilians to flee to safety, including torture, rape, destruction of villages and water supplies, and indiscriminate murder with bombs and chemical weapons (Minority Rights Group, 2018). Currently, more than 2.7 million people remain displaced, and Arab nomads occupy the region previously inhabited by the Fur. Despite international pressure, the Sudanese government has failed to provide adequate reintegration solutions that address land redistribution, instability, and continued ethnic-based violence (Minority Rights Group, 2018).

The data quality score is a 3 because there is an ample amount of credible, peer-reviewed resources available. Information is incomplete as a result of the dispersal of affected communities in controlled camps and of actions of the government, to include the manipulation of information and stemming of information leaks (Human Rights Watch, 2004).

Sources

  1. Human Rights Watch. Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan.(May 07, 2004). Retrieved April 05, 2021 from https://www.refworld.org/ docid/412ef69d4.html
  2. Human Rights Watch. Targeting the Fur: Mass Killings in Darfur. A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper. (January 21, 2005). Retrieved April 05, 2021 from https://www.hrw.org/ legacy/backgrounder/africa/darfur0105/darfur0105.pdf
  3. Minority Rights Group. Minorities and indigenous peoples in Sudan: Fur. (June 2018). Retrieved April 04, 2021from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/fur/