The bloody conflict in the Blue Nile .. How did it develop? What is the origin of the conflict between the Hausa and the tribes of the region?

KHARTOUM -

Fears are growing that the conflict that erupted between the Alberta and Hausa tribes - in the Blue Nile region (southeast of Sudan) - will lead to comprehensive confrontations involving other parties residing in the region, and from its extension to the neighborhood, especially in areas where the ethnic extensions of the two parties to the conflict.

The fighting in the last week claimed dozens of lives and caused the displacement of about two thousand people, and the spirit of tribalism emerged in a region that rarely witnessed clashes against this background, and the civil war has not lived since 1986 when clashes took place between armed rebels and the central government.

What are the reasons for the outbreak of this conflict now?

Why did it take such a violent turn?

And what are its roots?

What are its consequences in the region and its surroundings?

What is the relationship of the Hausa tribe to this border region and how did they reach it?

why now?

The governor of the Blue Nile region, Ahmed Al-Omda, said - in an interview broadcast by Sudan's official TV yesterday, Saturday - that "the story began two months ago, when the Hausa people demanded that they be included in the native administration in the region and the matter was contained."

Local sources say that the conflict has escalated since the Hausa tribe held a tribal conference in which an "emir" was chosen to represent a civil leadership to manage the affairs of the tribe, which was rejected by the native administration in the region.

On July 10, Hausa farmers clashed with Alberta shepherds in an area near the city of Qaisan on the Sudanese-Ethiopian border, opposite the Ethiopian Benishangul region, on the pretext that Alberta cattle had encroached on their farming, and two people were killed as a result.

After 4 days, the conflict erupted inside the city of Qaisan, in which 13 people were killed, according to the regional government, and quickly spread to other areas.

But activist Muhammad Hussein Musa, a resident of the second largest city in the region, says that the matter began "since last January, when the Hausa youth held a conference in the Wad al-Mahi area to celebrate Independence Day and government officials participated in it, and this was the largest activity of the emirate." Hausa after government recognition.

The emirate is the highest administrative hierarchy of tribes in Sudan, and the authorities recognize the emir who represents the tribe and participates in settling disputes with other tribes.

According to the land law enacted by the English colonialism in 1923, the emir administers the tribe’s possession of the land known locally as “al-hakoura.” The law states “the hawakeer in the name of the tribes, managed by their leaders, and they have the right to host others.”

In a meeting broadcast on social media for the Funj, Alberta, Ingsana and other indigenous tribes in the region, their leaders demanded the abolition of the Hausa Emirate.

The Hausa rejects this, and its children say that they are exercising the rights they have obtained by citizenship.

Ibrahim Hussein from Hausa said, "I am 56 years old and born in Wad Al-Mahi, as is my father, so how can this not be my land? Where do I go? I am a Sudanese citizen and these are my rights."

But the head of the native administration in the Blue Nile, El-Obaid El-Obaid Hamad Abu Shotal, rejects the Hausa's hold on the land;

He says, "This is the hakora of the tribes of the Blue Nile, and you are our guest, how do you demand to be part of the native administration, and it is known that the emirate is linked to you being hakoura."

Hate speech and government responsibility

The number of victims that exceeded dozens, and the violent scenes circulated on social media, raise fears that the matter may develop in a region that has not known tribal conflicts of a historically violent nature.

However, activist Mohamed Hassan stresses that hate speech was spreading between the two groups (Hausa and Alberta) without any responsible party noticing it, in addition to the use of firearms.

The Blue Nile region is adjacent to the state of South Sudan, which has witnessed conflicts and the proliferation of weapons, as well as the nearby Ethiopian Benishangul region, which is witnessing tensions between its own rebels and the Addis Ababa government.

According to official estimates, the Blue Nile region, which has a population of about one million, has about 300,000 weapons.

But a human rights activist - who asked not to be named - held the government responsible for the escalation of the conflict, and said, "The government did not care for things to deteriorate, and even when the clashes began, its security forces did not intervene until after the number of victims rose."

The roots of the dispute

In 1995, large numbers of Blue Nile tribes joined the popular movement that was fighting the central government in Khartoum, on the grounds that the governor appointed by the latter was close to the Hausa.

Activist Muhammad Hussein said that "the former regime continued, throughout its rule, to bring the Hausa and Fallata groups closer because it believed that other Blue Nile tribes supported the popular movement."

But the son of the Hausa tribe, Ibrahim Hussein, said that this hadith is not true, as there are Hausas who advocated for (rescue) but there are those who oppose it.

The military expert, Major General Amin Ismail, says that some tribes were supporting the rebellion movement, while the sons of some other tribes supported the rescue regime in what is known as the Popular Defense (volunteer forces who fought alongside the Sudanese army against the rebel movements during Al-Bashir’s rule from 1989 to 2019).

Where is the conflict going?

Major General Ismail fears that the conflict will become more bloody, and said that "the conflict in the Blue Nile and elsewhere will be bloody, after we witnessed the return of politicians to the tribes and their involvement in the political conflict, and we heard this is an immigrant and an indigenous tribe."

He added, "It is true that there are tribes that migrated from one region to another in search of resources, and this is present everywhere, but the inclusion of tribes in the political conflict threatens the stability of the region, rather the stability of the country."

Observers fear that the conflict will spill over into the Ethiopian Benishangul region, in which Addis Ababa is building the Renaissance Dam, where the Alberta tribe lives on both sides of the two countries, in exchange for a small presence of the Hausa tribe in some border villages and cities.

Major General Ismail said, "If the security contract in the Blue Nile region breaks down, the region will become a theater for the movements of groups that oppose the Addis Ababa government, as the borders do not have geographical barriers and the social components are common."

File photo of protesters from eastern Sudan (French)

How did Hausa get here?

The Hausa is one of the largest African tribes and is spread in more than 10 countries in the west of the continent, including Sudan, especially in the regions of Darfur, Al-Jazira, Sennar and the Blue Nile.

Anecdotal accounts did not confirm the date of the arrival of Hausa to Sudan, although the book “Tabaqat Wad Dhaif Allah” by Muhammad Nur Dhaif Allah, which chronicled Sudanese society during the period of the Zarqa Sultanate (1504-1821) mentioned that the retreat of the traditional school for teaching the Holy Qur’an north of Khartoum It had 5,000 students from West Africa.

During the Mahdist revolution (1885 to 1898), Abu Salim mentioned in his book “The History of the Mahdist Revolution” that two of the princes of the Mahdist army who fought with him in the battles of Kordofan in central Sudan belonged to the Hausa, namely, Mir Kno and al-Hawsawi.

With the emergence of the Gezira project in central Sudan (1925), the English rulers brought in agricultural workers from West Africa, so they were blessed and settled.

Aisha Issa, a researcher in the history of Hausa, says that "their presence in the Blue Nile region dates back to the early 1940s. Some of them were displaced here from central Sudan, and others were taking the road through the Blue Nile and then Ethiopia to cross the Red Sea in the Bab al-Mandab region to perform the Hajj, On their return they settled and worked in agriculture and trade with Ethiopia.