Memoirs of an African Refugee: Civil War in Dadaab (Ifo) Refugee Camp 1997 (part 3)
6 min readBy David Mayen Ayarbior, Juba, South Sudan
July 1, 2016 (SSB) —- In the last couple of articles I tried to narrate how our life as South Sudanese refugees in Ifo (Dadaab) camp was turned upside down by tribal fighting, which I termed as a (mini) civil war. I also blamed the fighting on ‘frustration-aggression,’ a phrase which psychologists and security analysts have widely used to explain why some youth rebelled against governments or joined terrorist groups. It could also be applied to explaining internal fighting between oppressed societies like what happened in UNMISS PoCs in Juba, Malaka, and Bor.
Continuing from where we stopped: Having carried out an unsuccessful attack on Sudan (4), the warriors of Sudan (2) retreated back to their camp. After setting alight parts of the fence, they could not enter Sudan (4) to ‘deal’ with the overall Chairman of the Sudanese Community whom they accused of being a traitor. Moreover, they had lost a young man who was beaten to death by Sudan (4) youth who resisted in defense of their sub-camp.
Once news spread that a young man from Sudan (4) had been killed by Sudan (2) youth, Kenya police quickly deployed more troops around our camps. They made it so clear that they were ready to shoot whoever attempted to disturb the peace which we had carved out of very difficult conditions in the camp. They asked people not to leave the camp, including some of us who had started going to the bush to hunt guinea hens or cut bamboo-like wood which we sold in Ifo market in order to buy food. Since UNHCR had refused to give us refugee status and Kenya police blocked our going back to Nairobi, the order not to leave the camp was impractical, thus some of us defied it.
Before this latest blockade, the residents of Sudan (4) were engaged in different trades. Their camp was where all South Sudanese sought all kinds of goods, including tea desks, buying live guinea hens, cigarettes and sugar, and the best brewed waraji (aragi) in town. It was where many kerosene lamps from different kiosks lit the main road to remind us of town life. It was the melting pot where we all met from the three Sudans. It was where we laughed our hearts out about our plight, especially when we got drunk. But now the camp is very gloomy and closed to outside visitors. We only talked to our friends across the thorn-tree fence.
The overall environment in Ifo was now very sad, tense and risky. Everyone was talking about the culture of revenge among Nilotics. The arms race started afresh and noise from rudimentary factories that produced arrows, machetes, daggers, and spears continued to pierce the air. Everyone was now theorizing about the scale of the imminent revenge attack from Sudan (4) on Sudan (2), but no one knew how and when that would be.
The day the awaited revenge happened was also a rainy day. A young man from Sudan (4) who was said to be his mother’s only son had decided to go to Dadaab (5 miles away) in order to talk to his relatives. Dadaab center was where all relief NGOs had their bases and a small Kenya Postal Service office provided international call boxes from where refugees communicated with the “outside world.” For some reason, the young man decided to camouflage his way through the bush and he reached Dadaab safely. But because of his bad lack (or fate) he was spotted by someone from Sudan (2) who quickly ran back to his camp to inform them about the target.
Spear wielding warriors from Sudan (2) quickly spread in the bushes along the road to Dadaab and laid an ambush for the young man from Sudan (4). Knowing that there was a probability of encountering an attack, the he had moved with his danga (arrows). In fact, it had become a norm for all men in the three Sudans to move with their weapons. On his way back from Dadaab in that fateful evening he fell into the ambush laid for him. Story later circulated that, according to those who stabbed him many times, the young man had fought with his arrows until he was overwhelmed by spear stabs. They called him “a brave man” who met his day as all men should be, with courage.
It was Somali’s who brought news to Sudan (4) the next morning that the lost young man was dead. Everybody had hoped that he would be stuck in Dadaab because of fearing to return back late that evening. But also, most of us feared the worst. And when news broke out that the body was found about two kilometers from Ifo camp, a group of arrow wielding and combat ready youth from Sudan (4) decided to conquer their fear and walk to collect their dead. Escorts from Kenya police might have averted what would otherwise have been a disaster.
The young man’s body was brought to Sudan (4) amid heightened tension and screaming. Women wailed like they never did in their lives. Some of us from Sudan (3) decided to go and see the body, and it was a horrible site. For a moment, I regretted being a South Sudanese. Coupled with the Rwanda Genocide which had just happened a couple of years earlier, I also regretted being an African too. I prayed to God that we get resettled in Canada, America or Australia and I would never come back to settle. I thought I would bring up my kids there and work to succeed in life.
But to prove how contradictory human beings could be, a few months later I found myself dropping resettlement and voluntarily joining the SPLA. To make things worse, I was initially imprisoned for two weeks (as a suspected spy, what a day!) at the SPLA garrison in New Kush, then I later moved to Pakula Mountain (20 miles from Yei) where I trained as an artillery man. It was a sharp contrast to my earlier emotive resolution never return.
The killing of the brave young man prompted UNHCR to split the three Sudans apart so as to avoid further revenge attacks. Sudan (2) was relocated to Hagardera (about 6 miles from Ifo) and Sudan (4) was relocated to Dagahili (about 5 miles on the opposite direction). Sudan (1- Anyuak) and we (Sudan 2) remained in Ifo.
Mayen Ayarbior has a Bachelor Degree in Economics and Political Science from Kampala International University (Uganda), Masters in International Security from JKSIS-University of Denver (USA), and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of London. He is the author of “House of War (Civil War and State Failure in Africa) 2013” and currently the Press Secretary/ Spokesperson in the Office of South Sudan’s Vice President, H.E. James Wani Igga. You can reach him via his email address: mayen.ayarbior@gmail.com.
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