South and North Sudan slip back into conflict
An oil pipeline has been attacked by Sudanese fighter jets, in the latest outbreak of violence on the volatile border between Sudan and South Sudan. The conflict which is erupting between The Republic of the Sudan and the newly independent South is compounding the already grinding poverty and recent drought crisis.
The air raid took place near the town of Heglig, which is situated within the Muglad Basin which contains most of Sudan's proven oil reserves. Fresh violence between the two countries is centred in the border regions over the control of oil and other resources.
Both countries failed to sign an agreement in Addis Ababa to resolve the disputes which sparked the recent eruption of violence in the border region. Juba accused Khartoum's delegation of walking out of the latest round of African Union crisis talks.
The two countries were governed separately under one administration by London until the 1950s, when they became united. The Arab speaking and Islamic north conflicted hugely with the black Animist and Christian south.
Much of the violence centred over oil as well as the fertile lands of southern Sudan, compared to the more desert-like north. This provoked a massive civil war which, although rooted in ethno-linguistic division, became a dispute over the control of resources.
Today both countries remain mired in corruption, as North and South Sudan career towards a humanitarian and refugee crisis. Among the areas most affected by the latest violence and food shortages are states in the border region.
Thousands of civilians stranded in the Nuba Mountains of Southern Kordofan, a Sudanese province with a population of 1.1 million, now face starvation. This is largely a result of the Sudanese government's restrictions on international humanitarian relief agencies from accessing troubled areas.
The recent fighting has destroyed large tracks of farmland and crops essential for isolated populations in Sudan's Blue Nile State and Southern Kordofan. 250,000 people in the region are threatened by starvation while a further 140,000 have been displaced.
€A vast humanitarian catastrophe is already underway, and there is no clear plan for either securing humanitarian corridors to these distressed populations in northern Sudan or for an appropriate pre-positioning of the food and non-food items that are critical,€ said Dr Eric Reeves, an expert on Sudan to Al-Jazeera. 200 people recently died in ethnically-motivated violence.
South Sudan is now facing a massive refugee crisis, with growing numbers fleeing across the border from the North. Refugee camps in remote areas are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Back in March South Sudan President Salva Kiir said his forces had seized a key oil field €" a claim denied by Sudan. When South Sudan seceded, it took most of the former Sudan's oil fields but all the pipelines flow north to an export terminal in Port Sudan.
In January, South Sudan €" which depends on oil sales for 98% of state revenues €" shut down its oil fields in a row over the fees Sudan demanded to transit the oil. The countries are also in dispute over the borders drawn. In February, the two agreed to demarcate most of the border within three months, although this would exclude five disputed areas.
Both countries are endemically corrupt, while their political and legal institutions are undeveloped €" problems too big for one or two politicians to solve.
As in Mali and Syria €" just to mention the most topical but by no means only conflicts in the world today €" a refugee crisis which at first impacts the immediate locality is almost destined to spread further. Until somebody can get both sides to sit down or umpire between them, one can almost bet the house that it will continue.
The resulting conflict from the independence of South Sudan was inevitable. It is yet another African country left to hang as it grows, while its people starve and die in the process. The rule of law is not working because the judiciary are not independent and markets cannot function because electricity is sporadic and infrastructure is negligible.
Education and healthcare do not get properly funded, nor is consideration given to the farmers whose farmlands and crops are destroyed.
South Sudan's democracy was no panacea. Without the development and maturation of institutions to control corruption, invest in education and create a viable economy, development is not going to happen.
The air raid took place near the town of Heglig, which is situated within the Muglad Basin which contains most of Sudan's proven oil reserves. Fresh violence between the two countries is centred in the border regions over the control of oil and other resources.
Both countries failed to sign an agreement in Addis Ababa to resolve the disputes which sparked the recent eruption of violence in the border region. Juba accused Khartoum's delegation of walking out of the latest round of African Union crisis talks.
The two countries were governed separately under one administration by London until the 1950s, when they became united. The Arab speaking and Islamic north conflicted hugely with the black Animist and Christian south.
Much of the violence centred over oil as well as the fertile lands of southern Sudan, compared to the more desert-like north. This provoked a massive civil war which, although rooted in ethno-linguistic division, became a dispute over the control of resources.
Today both countries remain mired in corruption, as North and South Sudan career towards a humanitarian and refugee crisis. Among the areas most affected by the latest violence and food shortages are states in the border region.
Thousands of civilians stranded in the Nuba Mountains of Southern Kordofan, a Sudanese province with a population of 1.1 million, now face starvation. This is largely a result of the Sudanese government's restrictions on international humanitarian relief agencies from accessing troubled areas.
The recent fighting has destroyed large tracks of farmland and crops essential for isolated populations in Sudan's Blue Nile State and Southern Kordofan. 250,000 people in the region are threatened by starvation while a further 140,000 have been displaced.
€A vast humanitarian catastrophe is already underway, and there is no clear plan for either securing humanitarian corridors to these distressed populations in northern Sudan or for an appropriate pre-positioning of the food and non-food items that are critical,€ said Dr Eric Reeves, an expert on Sudan to Al-Jazeera. 200 people recently died in ethnically-motivated violence.
South Sudan is now facing a massive refugee crisis, with growing numbers fleeing across the border from the North. Refugee camps in remote areas are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Back in March South Sudan President Salva Kiir said his forces had seized a key oil field €" a claim denied by Sudan. When South Sudan seceded, it took most of the former Sudan's oil fields but all the pipelines flow north to an export terminal in Port Sudan.
In January, South Sudan €" which depends on oil sales for 98% of state revenues €" shut down its oil fields in a row over the fees Sudan demanded to transit the oil. The countries are also in dispute over the borders drawn. In February, the two agreed to demarcate most of the border within three months, although this would exclude five disputed areas.
Both countries are endemically corrupt, while their political and legal institutions are undeveloped €" problems too big for one or two politicians to solve.
As in Mali and Syria €" just to mention the most topical but by no means only conflicts in the world today €" a refugee crisis which at first impacts the immediate locality is almost destined to spread further. Until somebody can get both sides to sit down or umpire between them, one can almost bet the house that it will continue.
The resulting conflict from the independence of South Sudan was inevitable. It is yet another African country left to hang as it grows, while its people starve and die in the process. The rule of law is not working because the judiciary are not independent and markets cannot function because electricity is sporadic and infrastructure is negligible.
Education and healthcare do not get properly funded, nor is consideration given to the farmers whose farmlands and crops are destroyed.
South Sudan's democracy was no panacea. Without the development and maturation of institutions to control corruption, invest in education and create a viable economy, development is not going to happen.
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