Thursday 2.27.14
Sudan
in
Turmoil
by Nadov Rader
2 The Report March, 2014
As fireworks burst and champagne corks popped symbolizing the start of a new year, the country of Sudan gained their independence on January 1, 1956.
Not everyone was happy about n the independence as a single unified Sudan. The country which was a construct of British and Egyptian colonial rule had merged two very different cultures and ethnic peoples together.
The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was the region's name before it's independence. The north area of this region was populated by Arabic people who were Muslim, and the south was populated by the Sub Saharan Africans who were primarily Christian and Animist.
When Sudan was merged into one region, due to the British and Egyptian government, the region was claimed Islamic due to both higher numbers of northerners, and Egypt’s influence as its Arabic neighbor on the northern border. The southerners did not like it that their best interests would be protected by the new federal government. Immediately
civil war broke out. This was the first Sudanese Civil war which lasted 17 years and killed over 500,000 (1/2 million) people.
Finally, in 2011, South Sudan gained independence causing escalating conflict between the north and south. Due to loss of land, power, and resources, the northerners were displeased about the southerner's independence and tension continued across the border. Dividing Sudan into two regions did not help the conflict between the north and south.
Recently, South Sudan is in danger of an escalating conflict with northerners, South Sudan is on the brink of a civil war. It is possible and quite likely the north was a cause of their breaking out, but the primary issue is that of the two largest ethnic groups in South Sudan. The Dinka and the Nuer. The current president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, was born into a family of Dinka. Former Vice President, Riek Machar, was kicked out of office by president Kiir because rumor had it Mr. Machar was attempting to undermine the president. Mr. Machar was a member of the Nuer and thus causing a break out between the two ethnic groups. Of course there are sides to pick which is a potential cause of a second Sudanese Civil War as it divides the country into two.