SUMMARY

The Awlad Omran clan is a subgroup of the large tribe Misseriya (alternative names: Missiriya, al-Misseriya, Misiriyya, Messeria, Misseria ).

Misseriya is an Arab ethnic group in mainly Chad and the Kordofan region of Sudan. Their main livelihood consists of herding camels. The Misseriya do not have their own Dar (homeland) but have been given land in the Dar of the Birgid, one of the largest non-Arab groups in Southern Darfur. They speak the Tama language and both originate and are otherwise largely concentrated in Chad. They are led by a nazir, paramount tribal chief, by the name of al-Tijani Abd al-Qadir.

The Awlad Omran clan itself is mainly located in what was formerly the Western Kordofan region in Sudan, neighbouring to Darfur. As part of the Misseriya tribe, the clan was armed by the Khartoum government’s Military Intelligence to aid in the conflict against the SPLM/A (Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army) rebels in South Sudan during the 1980s. There, they were encouraged by the government to devastate communities with suspected ties to the SPLM/A. Known as the murahaliin (the roamers), these counterinsurgency militias were not paid by the government but were instead permitted to keep anything they looted such as cattle, household items, and even women and children.

In 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) brought the North-South war to an end, the Misseriya clans were neither disarmed nor assisted in reintegrating into civilian life. Few of these were even compensated for their service in Southern Sudan. Being mostly illiterate and unemployed, this led many to resort to banditry, including occupying land, owned by non-Arab groups, by force of arms.

The Awlad Omran clan has been involved in the non-state category of the UCDP organised violence.