On the morning of February 6 this year, I visited Riqebat seasonal border market in East Darfur. The market is one of the most lucrative seasonal trading hubs and crossing points for both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and South Sudanese security actors. It also serves as a vital lifeline for borderland communities that depend on trade and labour mobility for survival.
The market sits on dark soil in a semi-arid plain dotted with acacia trees along East Darfur’s frontier with South Sudan’s Northern Bahr Al-Ghazal (NBG) State. Built entirely of grass mats and wood, it nevertheless hosts a significant population and many businesses.
A huge settlement hosting Rizeigat IDPs, fishermen, traders and RSF soldiers and their families is also attached to the market.
Riqebat market is located on the Sudanese side of the border in Dar Rizeigat (Rizeigat land), about three miles north of the Kiir/Bahr Al-Arab River. South of the same river is Kiir Adem market, which serves the Malual Dinka.
These markets have been, and continue to be, important trading hubs connecting the Malual Dinka in Aweil North County and the wider NBG to Rizeigat communities in East Darfur. They are also a key element of Malual-Rizeigat coexistence.
They are also important contact points between South Sudanese security officials and the RSF, even before the Sudan war.
Friday is market day for both. Every Friday, the Dinka and Rizeigat communities meet to trade in the twin markets before continuing together to Gok Machar for its market day on Saturday.
The importance of Riqebat market to the borderland economy was evident when I arrived there.
Countless donkeys and horses pulling carts loaded with goods and people were arriving from and leaving for across the river. Several lorries, loaded or empty, were parked behind shops constructed of grass mats just outside the market, while heaps of goods were displayed along the single, 40-metre-wide feeder road that divides it.
On one side of the road, several hundred used, and probably stolen, vehicles were displayed for sale.
As Dinka and Rizeigat men and women exchanged greetings, laughter and bargains over the prices of goods, some pulled one another aside for one-on-one or small-group negotiations, or to check on their families. Meanwhile, armed RSF soldiers in desert camouflage walked peacefully and majestically through the market, ensuring that the routes remained unobstructed and that the market was organised and peaceful.
Map showing the location of Riqebat Market
The Road To Riqebat Market From Gok Machar
A murram road connects Gok Machar to the Kiir Adem bridge. Though the road has not been repaired for more than a decade, it remains usable and secure for traders moving their goods.
From the bridge, a feeder road constructed in 2024 leads to Riqebat market. This long road connecting Riqebat market and Gok Machar is dotted with roadblocks, both inside South Sudan and Sudan.
When I asked a friend who had invited me to visit Riqebat market again, for the first time since independence, whether I would need an ID to cross, he smiled and said:
“Money is the passport on our road to Darfur. All roadblocks, whether manned by the RSF or South Sudanese security forces, only ask for money, not IDs.”
My friend runs a small-scale wholesale medicine business as a side hustle alongside his job. He buys medicines from an Ethiopian-run pharmaceutical company in Aweil town and transports them to Gok Machar, where he hands them to a better-connected friend and security official. The friend then transports them to Kiir at lower tax rates. In Kiir, another friend who owns a clinic resells the medicines to his Rizeigat buyers, who transport them further into East Darfur for resale.
There were four roadblocks that we passed before crossing the Kiir River.
The Gok Machar roadblock was empty that morning. All the traffic police officers there had relocated to Majak Bol, another roadblock on the road to Kiir Adem.
At Majak Bol, a motorcycle rider is charged 2,000 South Sudanese pounds, while a vehicle driver pays 5,000 pounds to pass in either direction. Officials also issue one-day road-user permits to riders with expired logbooks and sometimes impose fines. There are also cases of temporary arrest.
In addition, officials check goods arriving from Sudan and inspect their tax receipts to ensure that they have been taxed.
The next roadblock we encountered was the Malek Miir checkpoint.
This is the biggest along the road and is managed by different security apparatuses. Goods going to or coming from Riqebat are taxed there, no matter how small the quantities are.
There were multiple grass-thatched offices close to a long pole placed across the road and guarded by several armed men.
Truck drivers pay several million South Sudanese pounds (SSP), equivalent to thousands of dollars, in different offices belonging to various security departments to obtain final clearance to pass.
Goods carried on motorcycles and animal carts are also heavily taxed. Motorcycle riders follow designated routes where they are required to show their logbooks or a permit issued at Majak Bol, if they are coming from the Gok Machar side, before a rope is lowered to allow them through. Failure to show one may result in arrest and the imposition of heavy fines.
The last roadblock was at the gate of the Kiir River bridge.
This roadblock deals solely with security, the flow of weapons and other illegal substances. A senior SSPDF general was visiting that day, and security had been beefed up. Several artillery pieces and about two tanks had been dug into the ground at the bridge gate. However, the road to Riqebat was busy, with people crossing in both directions peacefully.
A short distance north of the bridge, we were greeted by a small RSF outpost. The soldiers on guard were armed and watched as people passed without questioning them.
A short distance on both sides of the security roadblock, pick-up trucks mounted with heavy artillery stood under acacia trees, facing towards the bridge. Each was guarded by a small number of soldiers.
Beyond the security outpost were two checkpoints similar to the one we had encountered at Malek Miir.
They are located close together near the market and are managed by RSF soldiers. One deals with goods and people entering Riqebat market, while the other handles goods and people exiting the market towards South Sudan.
These checkpoints also charge high taxes, similar to those imposed at Malek Miir in South Sudan. There was a narrow road reserved for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders carrying nothing. Motorcycle riders were required to present their logbooks before being allowed through.
History And The Importance Of Riqebat In The Borderland Economy
Though Riqebat and its twin Kiir Adem markets are seasonal and temporal, they are historical, and so is the Kiir Adem crossing point.
Kiir Adem was historically referred to as Safaha, a name that was changed to Samaha by the al-Bashir regime in the 1990s. During British rule, Samaha was the key contact point where Rizeigat and Malual Dinka tribal leaders, with support of British colonial administrators, negotiated peace and resource sharing, such as fishing and migrations.
Riqebat and Kiir Adem, on the other hand, are part of the peace markets established in the 1990s, during the second war, along the border between NBG with Darfur and Kordofan.
In the early 1990s, traditional leaders from the war-divided Malual Dinka, Rizeigat and Misseriya communities agreed to distance themselves from the political conflict and reopen the roads linking their communities, allowing trade and seasonal cross-border migration of people and cattle to resume.
These community-led peace talks coalesced into the establishment of peace markets in the late 1990s along the border for the borderland communities to trade.
Among the markets was the famous Warawar market in Aweil East on the border with West Kordofan.
The former Mabior Aweng peace market, located just south of Gok Machar, later evolved into the separate Riqebat and Kiir Adem markets.
Kiir Adem is located directly on the border, and during the war, was prone to attack and looting from the pro-government al-Maraheel militia, which was not part of the deal.
So, the peace markets, though they were supposed to be located along the border between the Dinka, Rizeigat and Misseriya communities, were located about 20 miles away inside NBG in areas that were less prone to al-Maraheel invasion.
The Mabior Aweng peace market was later, in 2000, relocated, due to scarcity of water for the growing number of people trading, to Mangar Ater on the bank of Lol River, where it operated until 2005, when the second war ended following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Since their founding, the peace markets have been regulated and managed by two selected peace committees made up of Malual Dinka and Rizeigat: The Malual Dinka/Rizeigat peace committee for Aweil North/East Darfur border, and Malual Dinka/Misseriya for Aweil East/West Kordofan. The Malual Dinka/Rizeigat committee is based in Gok Machar and Abu Matariq, and the Malual Dinka/Misseriya committee in Warawar and Al-Meiram. Misseriya
The members of these peace committees are selected among traditional leaders, traders, and elders of influence by their community leaders and groups and local government officials.
After the signing of the CPA and return to stability in the borderland, the market was moved to where it belongs: Kiir Adem on the border.
Initially, the market was situated on both banks of the Kiir river. On the south bank of the river was the Malual Dinka market and on the North was the Rizeigat’s, and on both sides of the bank of the same river were artilleries of the South Sudan and Sudan armies dug into the mud and faced each other.
In late 2010, the conflict broke out without warning, and the exchange of artillery fires and aerial bombardments that targeted the bridge burned the market on both sides of the river, destroyed properties, and killed several people caught in a crossfire.
The border and market were temporarily closed before resumption following the peace committee-led negotiations.
When the market reopened and trading resumed, however, the peace committee agreed to divide it into two sections while maintaining it as a single market under their joint supervision.
The reason was to avoid collateral damage and loss of lives should another war between Sudan and South Sudan break out.
The Rizeigat market was relocated about three miles northward from the riverbank to Riqebat, also called Raiq Mandala, where it sits to date.
The Malual Dinka market was relocated to the southern bank of the river and became known as Kiir Adem. Today, both locations play a crucial role in the borderland livelihood economy.
Sudan War And Cross-Border Trade
The war did not bring cross-border trade to a halt. Instead, it reversed the direction of commerce to meet changing needs across the border.
The war in Sudan did not spill over or bring the cross-border trade between Darfur and Kordofan with NBG to a halt as it was initially anticipated.
Instead, the borderland has remained relatively stable, while trade patterns have reversed to meet changing needs on both sides of the border during the war.
Traditionally, NBG depended on Darfur and Kordofan for goods. Food commodities, fuel, construction materials and other manufactured goods were imported from Sudan through these regions.
In addition, the Rizeigat and Misseriya communities move across the border with their cattle in search of water and pastures during the dry season months.
In turn, Sudanese traders imported forest goods such as grass mats and livestock from NBG. Young men from NBG also migrated every agricultural season to work on the commercial plantations in Sudan, enabling them to send remittances to their families.
When the war broke out in Sudan in April 2023 and quickly spread to Darfur, the cross-border labour migration was interrupted but the seasonal cattle migration continued.
The cross-border trade was also reversed. Darfur and Kordofan regions became dependent on NBG for goods they once exported to that region, following interruption by war.
Goods such as fuel, medicine, flour and other consumable goods now arrive from Uganda through Juba and NBG.
However, traders in Darfur continue to export onion and groundnut to NBG. They also export gum Arabic and livestock such as sheep, cattle and donkeys to or through South Sudan to the Gulf states.
Used cars and other valuables looted in the war are also part of the goods exported to South Sudan.
In both periods, Riqebat has remained an important trade and transit hub for both exports and imports.
Through my informal engagement with people I spoke with, mostly traders, peace committee members, and brokers, I learned that taxation and competition for overstretched natural resources are the key challenges to cross-border trade and for peaceful coexistence between the Malual Dinka and Rizeigat along this border and markets.
However, the traders and peace committee members are not passive onlookers to these challenges. They struggle to ensure that goods move across the border and conflict over resources are addressed before they can escalate into inter-ethnic clashes.
Moving Goods Across this Border
There are only three groups that can move goods across the border with lower taxes: senior security officials, peace committee members and well-connected traders.
Riqebat is one of the markets in the RSF-controlled areas in Darfur that is located on the border with South Sudan.
In this market, communities and traders on both sides meet to trade their goods as well as address their local issues, when they arise.
However, despite general security on the roads linking to Riqebat with Gok Machar and freedom of movement, traders I chatted with emphasised that moving goods across this border to South Sudan is expensive.
Taxes, since the start of the Sudan war, have been inflated and roadblocks multiplied both inside Sudan and South Sudan. This has made it increasingly difficult for many traders on both sides to move their goods across the border.
There are only three groups that traders say do not have their goods overtaxed and that enjoy certain advantages in cross-border trade. They leverage their power, influence and connections to move their goods between Riqebat and Gok Machar at lower cost.
The first group is made up of senior security officials who double as traders. They leverage their power to move their goods and those of their relatives across with lesser costs.
The second group is made up of members of the peace committee. Peace committee members who run cross-border businesses also enjoy this privilege. Because of their role and connection to security officials on both sides of the border, they receive some favours and their goods are less taxed.
Some traders hire brokers to move their goods across the border and use their connections to negotiate lower taxes.
The third group is made up of the better-connected traders and relatives of senior military officials.
The rest of the traders without connections face harsh taxation, both at Riqebat and Malek Miir checkpoints and along the roads.
There is one way less connected traders can avoid incurring high taxes when transporting their goods across the border: pay a better-connected broker to move them across.
Some traders hire brokers to help them move their goods across the border and use their connection to negotiate lower taxes. Most of these brokers are security officials or individuals operating within their networks.
For example, if a Rizeigat trader is moving his goods to Aweil, he would hire a Dinka broker who would take charge of those goods as his own and travel with them. The owner of the goods would be in the same truck pretending to be someone traveling to Wedweil refugee camp to see his family.
The broker is paid when the goods arrive in Aweil and the owner then takes charge of selling them.
After the goods are sold and the trader wants to export them to Darfur, the same broker would take charge of the truck again after it is loaded with goods and escort it beyond the Malek Miir checkpoint.
This is also the case when a Dinka trader, for example, wants to export or import goods from as far as the town of Ad-Deain in East Darfur. He must find a Rizeigat or RSF broker to facilitate the transfer of goods within Darfur.
Traders without connections have no option but to trade within their territory and risk even being knocked out of the market or incur high taxes if they move their goods across the border.
Conflicts And Resolution Mechanisms On The Borderland
The peace courts have full backing from both the South Sudanese authorities and the RSF leadership, trying both civilians and soldiers.
While traders deal with taxation, peace committee members reiterated that they are dealing with conflicts related to competition over natural resources, the expansion of farmland and settlements blocking cattle migration routes, and incidents of rape, which together threaten peaceful coexistence and stability.
This peace committee has, since the 1990s, remained the only legitimate body to resolve inter-ethnic conflicts involving cross border communities.
The war in Sudan has pushed many people to the border with South Sudan, creating greater dependence on forest resources and increasing pressure on them, which has heightened competition over these resources.
Many returnees fleeing the conflict in Darfur settled along the Kiir river.
In addition, some Sudanese refugees split between living between Wedweil refugee camp and the Kiir river where they trade and fish to supplement aid assistance.
The disruption of cross-border seasonal labour migration has also contributed to concentrating populations along Kiir river that compete over natural resources for shelter and food.
The natural resources being competed for are fishing sites, gum Arabic, edible forest goods, wood and grass to make temporary shelters.
As the area north of the Kiir River is a semi-arid climate, Rizeigat communities there depend on wood and grass, and other goods collected South of the river inside South Sudan. This created significant pressure on forest goods and sometimes conflicts.
The peace committee, in response to these crises and the need to address them earlier before they could instigate inter-communal conflicts, created subcommittees, involving Dinka and Rizeigat men and women.
The subcommittees are stationed at all crossing points along the Kiir river where the Dinka and Rizeigat live together and compete for resources. This includes one at Kiir Adem, Mayom Angok, Abuuth/Kalma, and Jaac, among others.
The committee granted Rizeigat men and women permission to collect gums, cut grass and wood to make their shelters, and harvest other forest goods in the areas south of river Kiir to sell for survival, without restrictions or taxation.
Peace courts have also been established at these crossing points to adjudicate minor cases, such as pickpocketing, interpersonal disputes, and conflicts between fishermen over fishing sites.
They also intervene and transfer bigger crimes such as rape, adultery, cattle theft, and murder to the peace court in Gok Machar for timely trial.
These peace courts have full backing from both the South Sudan and RSF security leadership and try both civilians and soldiers.
Between January and February 2026, the chairman of the Malual Dinka peace committee counted at least three criminal incidents involving RSF soldiers and in which the RSF leadership in Riqebat cooperated with them to investigate and arrest the suspects.
This includes the theft of cattle and robbery at gunpoint of traders and fishermen.
The same cooperation exists with South Sudanese security officials, enabling the peace committee to tackle criminal incidents.
The committee also imposes the peace committee’s tougher law against rape and adultery as a counter mechanism.
Women are also advised to walk in groups when they go into nearby forests to collect forest goods.
In addition, the peace committee works jointly with local chiefs to ensure that Rizeigat cattle migration routes are unblocked and their herds move as far as the Lol and Chel rivers and pastures.
