Urban IDPs vs. The Host Community in Khartoum An Article By :Razan Moawia
Article
August 2022
Urban IDPs vs. the host Community in Khartoum Author: Razan Moawia
Last year when I was starting my bachelor's graduation thesis, I was enthusiastic about working on a development project for urban IDPs in Khartoum. After a long research process that lasted four months about the current situation and historical background of urban IDPs in Sudan, narrowing down my potential sites, I decided to work in Mayu for reasons that match my criteria for the project. Growing up in Khartoum all I heard about Mayu and its community had been negative, ranging from believable to unbelievable stories, which initially concerned me about working there. It goes without saying I was surprised to find out that this is not the case at all. Getting personally involved with this community made me see it through a different lens, similar to most people in Khartoum, who are just another sector of the community struggling to make ends meet and provide for their families. Which led me to wonder where this stigma came from and when it started. What created this social gap between Mayu (and similar areas) and the rest of Khartoum? Despite being part of an urban city, Mayu is extremely underdeveloped, and isolated from the rest of the city; I went during the covid-19 pandemic, and when I asked about how they were dealing with the lockdown, they were clueless about the global crisis that affected the same city they live. The rest of Khartoum does not suffer from several of the problems Mayu does: with weak traditional architecture methods, the housing units are built from sticks and mud that gets wiped out every fall. Multiple primary schools that, statistically, should not be even close to covering the local need; but are still half empty because of the responsibility put on children to work and help their families. Insufficient infrastructure, waste-filled trenches dug by locals to mitigate rainwater, and streets filled with landfills. The trenches ended up doing more harm than good, as they overflow with water that turns into a source for nasty odors, diseases, and mosquitoes. As for the economic situation, Mayu is living in extreme poverty considering the lack of work opportunities inside Mayu, and the unlikeliness of beyond primary education. Most of the residents work day-to-day jobs that are not sustainable in any way. Digging deeper into Mayu’s history reveals that it was originally an IDP camp constructed in the 1970s by international organizations in Khartoum to accommodate South Sudanese seeking refuge from conflict. The camp was relocated from its original location, what is known now as downtown Khartoum when the numbers of the IDP grew, and the city of Khartoum grew, even more, the government at that time relocated the camp to the outskirt of Khartoum, as it was disturbing the harmony of the rapidly expanding city, which from my observation resulted in creating the first social barrier between the two societies. The Aftermath of the relocation was stripping this vulnerable community from primary services such as; good infrastructure and education. Neither the government nor the host community showed any contribution to their physical protection, well-being, self-reliance, and most importantly, integration, which resulted in the social wedge between them that remains to this day. The wedge is only growing as the city gets more developed, leaving the
community of Mayu remaining stuck in excruciating poverty and abandonment for generations. Other areas occupied by IDPs around Khartoum, like Al-Ezba, and Karton Kassala, share similar backgrounds. An article published by the UN-HABITAT stated: “[...]as crises become protracted in nature, aid dwindles, and camps become places of entrenched poverty. IDPs are left with few opportunities to become self-reliant, particularly where mobility outside camp settings is restricted. Protracted crisis leaves affected governments without easy options: do nothing and risk accelerating the proliferation of existing and new slums in urban/peri-urban areas; or build camps and also risk creating new slum settlements and increasing poverty.” This scenario the article portrayed is quite similar to life in Mayu, even though it is highly debatable that after all these decades, its residents are still considered IDPs. The two options the article provided show fear of the creation of informal settlements and how the government's main priority when searching for solutions is avoiding the creation of slums, but are informalities the problem? Are they the cause of the social and economic shocks caused by internal migration? Informal settlements, or Slums, are not dissociated parts of the city. They present a different paradigm and show that diverse urban spaces may coexist, provided inequities are overcome, and adequate living standards are universalized. If they are treated as an integral part of the city fabric and given their right to the city. In Khartoum, Stigma that grew from racism can serve as one of the significant barriers and reasons for the marginalization of urban IDPs. Having the host community look down on them and not just neglect them, but actively proceed in socially harassing the already vulnerable community, which over time led to hatred and sometimes retaliation from them. That is a result of an agenda pushed by the government at the time. Eviction and Demolition have become permanent occurrences in IDPs' lives without any alternative shelters provided, leaving them in a condition where it is almost impossible for them to redeem their community living situation. “Being forced to pick up and leave so many times resulted in such a big strain between our community and the government.” said one of the residents I interviewed, “and often we get random attacks from the police, and they hit everyone that tries to stop them from destroying our things as they please. We have no one to protect us but ourselves.” Calling attention to the physical barrier that is apparent if you look at a map of Khartoum highlighting the socio-economic statuses. The planning shows that Khartoum’s masterplan is intentionally laid out in a way that promotes segregation between the residents and the IDPs, as they are constantly pushed to the outskirts, to be again forced to rebuild as they had no place even in the chaotic urban form of the city, away from the city’s resources such as economic and infrastructure services. The government may not have given much thought to controlling property development, but they still had the time to ensure the IDPs were not part of that irregularity. The integration between urban IDPs and host communities is not only in Khartoum but in several cities around the world. We cannot neglect the burdens IDPs put on the host community. Their presence and competition for jobs, housing, and social services with
already limited resources can be challenging, but this is where the government's turn comes; to ensure that the transition does not cause a strain on the host community. Both, the government and host community should not just provide a sanctuary; but opportunities as well; for work and access to healthcare and education. Urban Displacement is not much of a negative phenomenon as it seems. By identifying and removing the barriers that prevent the migrants from benefiting and contributing to the social, political, economic, and cultural life of cities, the IDPs could play a large role in leading toward a resilient, sustainable urbanization process. Tending to the IDPs requires understanding the social landscape of the communities where they settle. Reading the pattern of their life that reflects physically in their settlements, whether formal or informal, and finding ways to create services that fit with both their community and the host community. In the case of Khartoum, identifying and mending the social and economic gap might not be as simple as it seems, but it must be addressed. For a long time this phenomenon has been going on, resulting in the refusal of both societies to embrace each other, but starting with working on lifting the livelihood of the IDPs community, and providing them with the resources they need might, over time, help bridge the gap a little bit. No single actor or entity can solve the problem that accumulated over time, as the scale of this challenge reached a level where everyone in both communities should be actively working towards social integration.