WITHOUT A HOMELAND - The contended Land

Africa is a land of Euclidean geometries, whose borders have been designed by non African people for [nomadic] people who did not have or know any borders. There is a slim triangle of land along the perfectly horizontal line that separates Egypt from Sudan, which has always been claimed by both countries. It is the Halayeb-Shalateen triangle”. Starting from Sudan's independence in 1956, border relations with Egypt have always been characterized more by reciprocal suspicion than by peaceful exchanges. The situation became even worse in the following decades due to a never ending sequence of obstacles and conflicts, particularly on that strip of land, which is currently under Egyptian rule. The soil which is rich in minerals is another reason for the fight that does not appear to be subsiding any time soon, as both countries want to exploit it. This year Sudan has denounced once again Egypt to the United Nations' Security Council, claiming their rights on the Halayeb-Shalateen triangle. Shalateen is the main outpost of the territory and it is also the most important dromedary market of Egypt, managed by nomadic tribes both of Arabic and Nubian origins who have always inhabited those lands.(Beja, Ababda e Rashaida). They are the ones who are paying the highest price for the conflict. For many years now and after many promises, “waiting for the end of the crisis”, those people still do not have a citizenship, they are stateless, paperless and worried that if they move they might be arrested. Egyptian authorities refuse to give them an official paper demonstrating their right to Egyptian citizenship. “is there a bigger injustice than not knowing one's own home, nationality or identity? Although we have all been born in this land?” this is the thought of an old Beja bedhouin. Based on UNHCR data about 10 million people in the world today are stateless. There are more than 30 countries where stateless people need official documents in order to receive health care and more than 20 countries where children without official documents cannot be legally vaccinated. Those children often have to go to expensive private hospitals, because state hospitals do not allow people without an official id to enter. In Egypt no official statistics are available either at the local authorities or at the UNHCR on the number of stateless people in the country and there are no laws regulating the issue. Moreover there are no official numbers indicating how many of those stateless people have applied for citizenship. In the meantime the government is continuing to delay a solution to the problem.