About Jebel Marra
The Jebel Marra (JM) massif lies in the center of the Darfur region, bordering the state divisions of Central, South and North Darfur. It is a fertile region inhabited mainly by the Fur tribe and has since 2003 been the primary stronghold of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a Fur-dominated group. It is the only place in Darfur where an armed opposition group maintains prolonged control over territory and the only area in Darfur to which humanitarian organisations have had no access since 2011.
In Sudan there is no shared understanding regarding the geographical size of JM. Some attribute only the areas in the immediate vicinity of the mountains (referred to as the inner JM area), while others consider locality border areas and a significant part of the lowlands to be part of JM (referred to as the greater JM area). For this document, OCHA is focussing on the mountainous areas in the centre of the massif, the inner JM area, parts of which are controlled by the Government of Sudan and parts by the SLA.
Estimated Population Figures
• There are no reliable population statistics for JM. The latest census was completed in 2008, and then only for certain parts of JM. The lack of access for humanitarian organizations to the area since 2011 has hampered any collection of recent data.
• Current estimates indicate there are some 365,000 people living in the greater JM area, and approximately one third of those - 120,000 people - live in the inner JM area.
• Knowing that some 25,000 people (of the 120,000 people in inner JM) have been displaced to camps for internally displaced perosons (IDPs) in Central and North Darfur in recent months, OCHA estimates that today there could be some 95,000 people in the inner JM.
• Of these 95,000, the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and community leaders have confirmed that some 47,600 people have reportedly been displaced in recent months.
Humanitarian Access Restrictions
Access restrictions to JM not only prevent humanitarian organisations and individual actors from having an exact understanding of the population numbers in the area, but also block aid to people in need.
The three main obstacles to free and regular access to the JM are:
• Access restrictions by the parties to the conflict, preventing humanitarians from entering both government and SLA controlled areas.
• The unpredictable security situation in general: hostilities, including both ground fighting and aerial bombardment, are ongoing, according to reliable sources on the ground.
• The government has also expressed concern that humanitarian aid could directly support opposition fighters.