SUDAN: Fears of violence as land tensions increase
NIMULE, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Nimule, a Southern Sudanese town on the border with Uganda, has boomed since war ended three years ago, but tension is brewing over land between returnees who fled the area years ago and more recent settlers.
"They chased me away," said Cizarina Lindio, who returned after two decades only to find people from a different community living on her land.
"They said, 'We liberated this place [Southern Sudan] with guns and I will use this gun on you if you don't go'," she said, sitting on a plastic bag outside a mud home built on a small patch of land given to her by relatives.
Locals say the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA, which fought for years against the Northern army, were dominated by ethnic Dinka, many from the Bor area in Jonglei State farther north. After capturing Nimule, it became a military base and many of the soldiers' families moved in.
"Those people ... are continuing to build there," said Lindio. "I have no power. What can I do?"
However, a Southern Sudanese government official denied knowledge of the brewing tension in Nimule. "It is news to me," Information Minister Gabriel Changson Chang said.
Land policy
The government is developing a land policy to deal with disputes.
"This is everywhere in the country. In rural areas we have tried to move the IDPs [internally displaced persons] back to the areas where they came from. But in towns, it is a free country," David Gressly, head of the UN in Southern Sudan, said.
Many Dinka settlers in Nimule do not want to return to their home areas, tempted by better quality education and health services.
"The displaced here are related to SPLA soldiers. They will not move easily," one observer said. "The local authority may not even be able to speak against them."
Business with Uganda is booming, new roads and buildings are being built and the population has grown. But many of Nimule's original Madi inhabitants have not returned from temporary sites in Sudan or refugee camps in Uganda.
The Dinka-Bor are generally cattle-herders, while the Madi are mainly farmers. An increased presence of cattle in and around Nimule has made farming impossible, many Madi say.
In the village of Matara, on the outskirts of Nimule, Lawa Jane was chasing cows from her family gardens. "We planted maize. They have eaten it all," she said. "There is no way we can control them."
Olweny Shalfa, deputy administrator of Nimule, said many residents had lost their agricultural livelihoods and turned to petty business instead, becoming poorer.
Patience is running thin. Venusto Gido Zira, vice-chairman of the Madi community, told IRIN: "The government [should] pressure these people to go away, we don't want to fight. We have fought enough. But if the government continues to do nothing, then there is no alternative."
Debate in the local press has turned ugly, with Madis writing of "colonisation" and "occupation".
Peace first
The Dinka paint a different picture. Many left their homes in 1991 after fighting between the Dinka and Nuer SPLA factions, and walked for weeks until they reached Nimule.
"We are in peace and harmony, there are no problems with any natives or surrounding areas," Malual Jok, Dinka chief in Nimule, told IRIN.
The interim 2005 constitution gives every citizen the right to freedom of movement and the liberty to live anywhere in Southern Sudan, as does the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
However, Jonglei remains insecure. Cattle-raiding and attacks by rival communities are common, and many Dinkas say it is too early to return. In August, more than a dozen people were killed by cattle raiders.
"There is no peace in Bor," Jok said. "When there is peace, I will return."
Shalfa urged the Southern government to take the issue more seriously. "The [people from Bor] feel they have the right to be [here] because it is part of Southern Sudan. And the host community who are currently out also have the right to settle in their own place," he told IRIN.
In 2006, similar tensions in Yambio, Western Equatoria, erupted into fighting between the Zande and Dinka communities.
"It was like an explosion," one observer said. "We got calls saying Yambio is on fire." While locals saw it coming, the incident took international humanitarian workers by surprise. Now, some fear it could happen in Nimule.
"Should there be open conflict here, as happened in Yambio, it will echo in many places," Charles Mogga, a Madi and former refugee, said. "Once it begins ... there will be war between communities, which is very dangerous."
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Copyright © IRIN 2008
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
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