War in Sudan

Conflicts in the country of Sudan began as early as 1953. Before 1953, Britain and Egypt jointly controlled northern and southern Sudan, but they kept the regions separated. These separate territories of Sudan had stark cultural differences. When Britain decided to give Sudan its independence in 1953, Britain combined the two regions without talking to Sudanese leaders.

The change caused tension to arise between the south and the north of Sudan. The south feared that the north would attempt to exert control over the entire country. Southerners believed the new independent government did not give them equal power to the north.

The First Civil War

In 1955, a rumor arose about a telegram sent to the northern members of the government. The rumor was that the telegram encouraged the northern leaders to oppress the south. Southern rebels instigated small fights across the countryside in response to this rumor. The small uprisings were not enough to threaten the new government, but they did continue for several years.

By 1963, the southern rebels had formed a more organized resistance force. They called themselves the Anyanya guerilla army. They grew in strength and popularity from 1963 to 1969.

In 1964, a temporary government was established because different members of the country’s leadership did not trust one another. Over the next few years this government was controlled by Muslim rulers, but they were not able to foster peace amid the many ethnic, economic, and religious conflicts.

The Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) formed during this period. It was an organization that officially called for South Sudan to be its own independent country. The SSLM united all the southern rebels that had been fighting against the north.

The war ended in 1972 when both sides finally came to an agreement: the Addis Ababa Agreements, named after the capital city of Ethiopia where the two sides met to discuss conditions for peace. Sudan would remain one unified country, but the south was given a greater amount of power in governing their own region. However, some of the southern leaders were skeptical about the peace agreement. 

The Second Civil War

Violence restarted in the early 1980s, when large oil reserves were discovered on the border between the north and south. Money from oil constitutes a large part of Sudan’s economy, so this was an extremely important discovery. President Gaafar Nimeiry attempted to seize complete control of the oil fields for the north. He also declared Sudan an all-Muslim nation. He began to enforce the strict Muslim laws known as Sharia Law.

In reaction to these provocations, a new resistance group formed in the south, called the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). The SPLA, unlike the earlier Southern Sudan Liberation Movement, campaigned for a united Sudan. For a while, it looked like the north might agree to a more balanced system of government. But in 1989, the politically and religiously extreme Omar al-Bashir seized control and made himself head of all parts of the government. The south lost hope for a quick solution.

As violence grew, another crisis hit Sudan: a famine. An extreme drought led to food shortages that coincided disastrously with the ongoing civil war. The drought and famine exacerbated the suffering in the country. 

The two sides finally reached an agreement in 2005. It was called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The agreement declared that the south would live under relative independence for six years, when it would hold an election to decide whether to stay unified with the north or leave permanently. It was also agreed that any profits from the oil reserves on the border would be divided equally between the north and the south.

Conflict in Focus: The Darfur Region

A western region of Sudan known as Darfur became especially dangerous during the Second Civil War. Violent events in the area spiraled into a full-blown genocide in 2003, causing thousands of deaths and producing millions of refugees.

During the genocide, the Sudanese government exploited existing ethnic conflicts in Darfur. Government forces killed 300,000 non-Arabic Darfurians and displaced two million more. Because of the ethnic motivation behind these killings, the international community labeled the atrocities a genocide.

The Darfur Peace Agreement came in 2006, but numerous rebel groups rejected it. Government attempts to end the fighting never fully succeeded. 

Renewed Violence

In 2011, following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to separate from the north and establish their own country.

Unfortunately, independence did not erase the many ethnic and political divisions among South Sudanese citizens. In December 2013, violence broke out between two opposing political factions on the streets of Juba, the capital city. One group sided with the President, Salva Kiir, and the other group sided with his former Vice President, Riek Machar, who had been accused of trying to steal political power. Civil war re-ignited across South Sudan. The fighting continues as of 2017. 

A Human Rights Crisis

The endless cycle of violence in Sudan and South Sudan led to harrowing atrocities against innocent people. The international community has condemned human rights violations committed by all sides during these wars.

Since the start of the Second Civil War, more than 4 million people have been forced from their homes. Some of the displaced people headed to nearby countries, where they live in refugee camps. Others have fled to safer, more desolate parts of Sudan. Refugees struggle to attain access to basic necessities such as food, clean water, and shelter.

In the same time period, over 2 million people have perished. Some have faced ethnically-motivated killings (such as the genocide in Darfur). Still others have died of starvation because of the drought. Soldiers often burn villages, kidnap civilians, and steal possessions and animals.

It is also common for soldiers from all sides to kidnap young boys from a village and force them to serve as child soldiers. Child soldiers are often not given enough to eat and are sent into the deadliest battles. 

Nearly 5 million more people remain in desperate need of food and other aid. Efforts from international organizations like the United Nations have not proven sufficient to relieve the suffering of Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees.