Abstract
Tensions in internally displaced person (IDP) and refugee camps in Darfur and on the Chadian border have given rise, in recent years, to claims that they are 'militarized'. To date, little effort has been made to understand the dynamics in these camps, to mitigate the negative impacts of these dynamics, or to reduce the presence of arms and armed actors. The Government of Sudan, however, has used the tensions to justify armed intervention in camps-sometimes with serious consequences for the civilian population-in support of its agenda to return or relocate IDPs. In turn, Darfur's armed and rebel movements are manipulating the tensions in the camps and are thereby attracting international attention in order to achieve political goals.
Despite the Darfur Peace Agreement and ongoing political negotiations the Darfur conflict continues. Armed movements continue to fragment and shift allegiances; sub-conflicts between political and tribal groups are increasingly common; and the impact of years of conflict on livelihoods is reaching critical levels. Though the camps in which Darfurian civilians live are, in general, not militarized, neither are they neutral, humanitarian spaces. Instead, many have become strategic sites for political and economic activity where, perceiving themselves under threat, the population has little choice but to engage in complex allegiances and negotiations in order to achieve physical security and access to the political process.