Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Darfur: Schematismi vs. complessità

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3737566.stm
Breaking Darfur's stereotypes
The crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region is often portrayed as a simple
conflict between Arabs and Africans, but the World Food Programme's Greg
Barrow says the reality on the ground is much more complex:
Some 1.4 million people have been displaced in the conflict in Darfur
There are few sadder sights to behold in South Darfur state than the 5,000
members of the Dinka community living in a camp on the edge of the village
of Muhajaria.
They are among the tens of thousands of Dinka who fled to the region in the
late 1980s to escape attacks from Arab horsemen, or Muraheleen, who were
rampaging across the Dinka homeland in the remote and barren south Sudanese
province of Bhar Al Ghazal.
Today, they are cursed with the dreadful irony of having fled one conflict
zone only to find themselves stranded in another.
For more than 15 years, they have been adrift and bereft, carving out a
pittance of an income by working as sharecroppers, cleaners and builders.
They are far from their homes, and have lost the wealth that they once
preserved in the shape of their majestic cattle herds.
Different stories
In a region filled with African groups displaced by the ongoing conflict
with the Arab Janjaweed militia, there are lessons to be learned from the
plight of the Dinka.
Even if a final peace agreement is signed in southern Sudan between the
Khartoum government and the southern rebels, the Dinka will find it almost
impossible to resume their old way of life in Bhar Al Ghazal.
But while the historic conflict between Arabs and Africans is a recurring
theme in Sudan, it would be wrong to assume that it is always Arabs who are
the victors, and Africans the vanquished.
In camps for internally displaced people (IDP) in Darfur, where the United
Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) works, we have found many examples of
families and communities whose stories do not fit into simple stereotypes.
It is true that black Africans are in the majority among the hundreds of
thousands of displaced and most of them say they fled attacks by the Arab
Janjaweed militia.
But there are also displaced Arab communities, whose villages were attacked
by African groups, and who are victims of inter-African ethnic fighting.
There are even parts of South Darfur where the WFP currently cannot work
because of a dangerous traditional conflict between rival Arab groups.
Mostly farmers
Beyond the populations of IDPs, there are host communities whose towns and
villages have also found themselves caught up in this crisis.
The sudden influx of IDPs has put their water wells, environment, and
fragile economies under immense strain.
Of course, the region's humanitarian crisis makes no distinction between its
victims. In the coming months, this dusty landscape, filled with the
footprints of competing ethnic groups, will unite all of the dispossessed in
their suffering.
Most of the displaced, whether Arab or African in origin, are farmers.
As a result, up to half of all arable land is lying fallow. Traditional
tillers of the soil will not be producing for the regional markets this
year.
The long-term impact will be felt by everyone.
WFP is currently providing food aid to more than a million people across
Darfur, but the figure could reach two million by the end of the year.
The provision of international food aid will help alleviate the suffering of
hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the short-term.
But rebuilding lives and livelihoods against a backdrop of conflicting
ethnic and religious interests requires a more complex solution - both for
victims of past and present crises.

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