Who Lives in Bir Tawil? The Ababda, the Bishari and Others

Bir Tawil is often described as uninhabited. That is true in the sense that there are no villages, permanent buildings, or official residents. It is misleading in another sense. The territory lies within lands that pastoral peoples have used for centuries, and people are present at various times of year.

The Ababda are a people of the Eastern Desert of southern Egypt and northern Sudan, historically associated with the Aswan region and the desert routes between the Nile and the Red Sea. The 1902 administrative boundary placed Bir Tawil under Cairo's administration precisely because it was Ababda grazing land.

The Bishari (Bisharin) are a Beja people of the Red Sea Hills and Eastern Desert, living mainly in north-eastern Sudan and south-eastern Egypt. Bishari herders move through the wider region, including Bir Tawil, following pasture and water.

In recent years, artisanal and informal gold mining has spread across the deserts of northern Sudan and southern Egypt, and camps have been reported in and around Bir Tawil. Such mining often uses mercury, which harms miners' health and the environment. The presence of miners and the networks that supply them add to the area's security risks.

The Sovereign Empire of Brendania holds that the region is not empty of human history. The Empire honours the historical and cultural ties of the Ababda and Bishari to the wider area, and every development of the territory will take those ties into account.

The Empire's objective is a durable, peaceful relationship with the people and land of Bir Tawil, built on respect and consent.