For decades, the tribes of eastern Sudan remained marginalized under ousted President Omar al-Bashir and took up arms against him between 1994 and 2006.
Today, more than two years after her expulsion, she is back in protest, lamenting his misrepresentation in transitional government institutions. Who are these tribes?
The largest in eastern Sudan
Inhabit Beja tribe, which is the largest in eastern Sudan, has been around for thousands of years in that region that borders with Egypt and Eritrea.
These tribes represent an additional challenge for the transitional government, which is facing an economic crisis and a political crisis that Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok described a few days ago as “the worst and most dangerous” since al-Bashir was overturned, according to the AFP.
It has its own culture, language, clothing and food that its children get from camel grazing and agriculture.
Richer and poorer regions
Rather, some researchers claim they are alienated from urban areas. In this context, Moussa Abdullah Saeed, a university professor and researcher in the Beja communities, said that the people of this tribe “are alienated from thearea urban, and they go there only to buy their needs, while 90% of them live in countryside despite the harsh environment. “
Although their region is famous for its fertile lands known for its grain production and rich gold mining, in addition to the country’s main port at Port Sudan on the Red Sea, it is the poorest region in Sudan, which is already one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the United Nations.
The Beja tribes have long called for the Bashir government to end its economic and political marginalization.
Protests more than once
2018, share Beja Strongly in the massive protests that led to the overthrow of Bashir in April 2019. The tribes supported the transitional government formed in August 2019 until it signed a settlement agreement in Juba in October 2020. pace with the opposition groups, which included a special section in the east of the country, and was signed by members of the Beja. However, many of the protesters who rose up in recent weeks felt they were not representing them.
The Beja have also organized protests more than once in recent months and closed streets.
In September, they blocked oil exports (produced from South Sudan) for a few days and are still closing the port of Port Sudan, the only seaport in Sudan through which trade takes place. They also close the road to Khartoum, which is about a thousand kilometers from Port Sudan.
For his part, one of the organizers of the protest, Abdullah Abushar, said that “after declaring our rejection of the track in May, a delegation of the civil government, led by Khaled Omar, minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, came to of eastern Sudan and we presented our requests, in addition to which there was the cancellation of the track “, adding:” It’s been four months and you have not done it. The government has taken any steps, even if it has promised he would reply to our note after a week. “
The Bedawi and the Taqra’i
The Beja make up about 10% of the Sudanese population of 45 million, according to the latest official census conducted in 2008. They are divided in two groups depending on the language: the Bedouins and the Tagrayans.
The Hadandawa, Amrar, Basharyin, Ashraf and other tribes also speak Bedouin. It is believed to be related to the Meroitic language, which was used in the Kingdom of Kush in northern Sudan about four thousand years ago.
As for the taqriah language, also used in northern and western Eritrea, it is spoken by the group formed by the tribes of Bani Amer, al-Habbab and others, whose members are believed to have migrated to eastern Sudan from the Arabian Peninsula.
curved knife
Men can be seen Beja For personal protection, they carry a curved knife locally called “the chotal” and a curved stick also called “sefrok”. They also use it for dancing during their celebrations.
Beja history researcher Mukhtar Hussein explained that Beja women live behind doors, especially in rural areas, where “women don’t appear in front of strangers.” The Beja have their own “Qald” dispute resolution system, which is binding on all members of the tribe regardless of where they are when their leaders sign it, according to Hussein.
The pursuit of equality
Interestingly, from time to time in so much internal disputes occur between the Beja tribes, the last of which was between Al-Handawa and Bani Amer, after personalities, some of which belong to Bani Amer, signed the agreement of pace of Juba for the region.
The Hondawa leader led recent protests in the region to demand the cancellation of the agreement pace signed in 2020.
The Beja tribes also took up arms against the Al-Bashir government from 1994 to 2006, when the government signed a pace with it in the Eritrean capital, Asmara. This deal was criticized as “weak” and failed to meet Beja’s ambitions.
Read More About: World News
