Civil War In Sudan Research Paper

“Meanwhile, the women of Southern Sudan flee, they die, they are raped, they starve, they get sick, they are abducted into slavery, they struggle, they despair, they resist.” (Hyndman) The Civil War in Sudan has been an on-again-off-again type war (1955-1972 and 1983-2005). It has been many years in between fighting where both the North and the South have come to terms. From this I gathered that there will never be peace between the two factions. On January 1st 1956 Sudan gained independence from the British and Egyptian government. Because of this new found independence, this started a war between the two sides of Sudan. There began a war over the types of government, a war on religion, and a war on the economy. Sudan lies in the North-East
part of Africa, and is the largest country. The approximate size of Sudan is 2,505,813 square kilometers. In 2003, the population reached just over 33,600,000 made up of mostly black Africans. Sudan got its independence from the British and Egyptian government in 1956 and then became a member of the Arab League and the United Nations.
“The inhabitants, although they constitute 40% of Muslim Africans, are predominantly black and non-Muslim.
The south is -and always has been- significantly less developed and generally poorer than the north. Eventually, in 2003-2004, a peace agreement was reached, although this threatened in August 2005, when the leader of the rebel movement in the south (the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) John Garang, was killed in a helicopter crash.” (Seddon)
This lead to civil unrest. This essentially started the beginning of the civil war in Sudan. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement was put into place by South Sudan to better protect themselves. They wanted a strong government and the right people in it. Because of the death of John Garang, they never accomplished that and in effect, started a massive civil war within their own
country.
After appointing Lt-Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir the head of government and its president in October 1993, a new constitution was put into place in 1998 and was called the “National Assembly”. This constitution led the way for the people of Sudan to decide their government politicians and allowed women to be a member of the National Assembly. “The National Assembly approved an interim Constitution as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January between the Sudanese’s government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). The Interim Constitution provided for the establishment of a government of national unity, representation in which was to be divided between northerners and southerners, with the former holding 70% of the posts and the latter 30%.” (Seddon). This was a massive blow to the southern people of Sudan. This constitution guaranteed little control in the government and displeased many people of Sudan. The South had little control and little say in the government and the National Assembly. Overall this, an arrangement was made on behalf of the southerners. They could elect their own president, but with stipulations; 5-year mandate (renewable only once), only 170 cabinet members with 70% coming from the SPLA. This new constitution did not address the countries federal structure. The first war was fought for greater autonomy on behalf of the Southerners. This lead to a peace agreement between the North and South, where the southerners gained back some of their freedom. This war on government was not the only thing that Sudan was fighting for; they also fought over religious beliefs.
Religion is the pivotal factor for the war in Sudan. “In the Sudan, there was (and is) not only tension between the Islamic North and the Christian South, but there were also regular conflicts of old between the various Southern tribes. Among Muslims, the difference between Sunnis and Shiites lead to persistent conflicts.” (Soeters) The North, being primarily Islamic, has been pushing to get the South to follow the same religion, will little effect coming from it. Islam set into motion the beliefs and actions that later happened to the people of South Sudan. The people of the South have been shaped by the resistance to the Northern religion. This, in effect, has unified the South and has geared them towards Christianity and the English language. This war has not only changed the people of Sudan but also how they view each other. “In the Sudan, the communities from the South are called ‘salves’ and ‘animals’ respectively, taking away all psychological inhibitions against killing.” (Soeters). It is important to note that because of the religious differences, this war will not end anytime soon. If the idea of religion or government was not enough to start a war, then a war on the economy was the final blow.
One of the most controversial issues between North and South Sudan happened to be the oil fields, both sides felt they deserved more and so war went on.
“On the connection between oil exploitation and human rights violations, the report found that oil extraction was exacerbating the armed conflict in Sudan in several ways: First, concerns about oil field security were causally connected to forcible displacement, pacification, and human insecurity in the Western Upper Nile; second, oil activity intensified internecine conflict within the South as well as combat between North and the South for control over this resource-rich territory; third, resource development has generated infrastructure.” (Hyndman)
Because of this struggle, South Sudan gets less money per barrel than any country in the world.
At $25 dollars a barrel, the country of Sudan is struggling to pay for the cost of the war and is going into famine. One of the major problems is food—or lack there of. At least 1.5 million people are experiencing food insecurity. And the number is expected to keep rising to approximately 2.5 million people in the coming months. All in all, the oil industry has taken a huge hit as well as the agricultural industry. There have been many displaced and starving people in the country of Sudan who will not get to eat tonight because of the religious differences between North and South Sudan. This country is in shambles from this war.
“In 2003, according to estimates by the World Bank, Sudan’s gross national income, measured at average 2001-2003 prices, was US $ 16,372m., equivalent to $460 per head (or $1,880 on an international purchasing-power parity basis). Overall GDP increased, in real terms, at an average annual rate of 5.8% in 1990-2003; growth in 2003 was 6.0%. In 2003 the average exchange rate was US $1+$260.98 dinars.”
(Seddon)
So, in effect, the price of oil has caused a hassle to the people of Sudan. It seems that nothing good as come out of this war economically. It seems that inflation rose and so did the cost of the dollar. This civil war has caused people to change their ways of life, by dictating the oil fields and the price of the dinar, the people of Sudan cannot support themselves.
The effect of this war was far and extensive, “Too few know that almost two million Southern Sudanese have died since the war resumed in 1983, or that almost four million Southern Sudanese, the world’s biggest population of internally dis-placed people, have been cast adrift in Africa’s largest country.” (Hyndman) This war has meant the death and displacement of many people. It has meant that men and women cannot go home and see their children. It has meant that people starve to death. This war has done more harm than good. This war is still ongoing even to this day. There seems to be no way to stop it other than the United States to come in and control the situation. Many countries have ignored it and avoided it, but they cannot any longer if there continues to be problems with the Oil Fields. This war was started over issues with the government, religion, and the economy.