SUMMARY

The Terjam (sometimes spelled “Tergam”) is a small ethnic group that makes its living from farming and cattle-herding. The Terjam is an Arab group that has traditionally lived side by side with the Fur people, in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

The Terjam group has been living on Fur land for over 60 years, but harboured aspirations to get their own land. The aspiration of the Terjam was to legitimise its claims for land through peaceful relations with the Fur, but with the initiation of the government’s counter-insurgency against Darfur-based rebel groups the group seized the opportunity to forcibly remove the and fortify its own chiefdom. To achieve this they joined forces with other groups, mainly two sub-clans of the Reizegat Abbala; the Um Jalul and Mahriya. Jointly these groups attacked the Fur and committed atrocities that caused mass displacement.

The Terjam has been involved in the non-state category of the UCDP organised violence.