Sudan When It Split Into North and South Term Paper

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Sudan Split

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Sudan's existence can be traced back to approximately 9 million years. It is a state in Africa which was formerly conquered by its neighbor; Egypt as well as Turkey. However, rebellion against this ruling regime gave Britain an opportunity to step in. consequently, it was in 1899 when an agreement was signed between Egypt and Britain under which Sudan was to be jointly administered by these two countries. It was not until 1955 when Sudan got its independence and was ultimately granted the right to self-govern. In addition, in 1916, Darfur joined the protectorate. As a matter of fact, while Sudan was under Anglo-Egyptian rule, it kept the North and the South separate. Regardless of this divide, most of the development was focused in the North as compared to the South and other areas such as Darfur remained economically as well as politically marginalized. Although the country was set free by Britain and Egypt, Sudan faced a constant internal problem.

Since a long period of time, the country has faced a number of conflicts. Sudan has suffered from two civil wars between North and South which has caused almost 1.5 million deaths. Moreover, the incessant fight in Darfur has resulted in 2 million homeless people with several being killed. The pleasure and excitement of being independent was soon undermined and overshadowed by the continuous constitutional conflicts with the southern part which gradually converted into a civil war which was difficult to stop by the ill equipped government. The break out of other fighting is also evident arising soon after the promised autonomy by the president Jaafar Numeiri for the South (Paterno 2010). However, in 1946, the North and the South were brought back together and merged. Despite the merger, the major political as well as the administrative power was held by the North which made the South resentful. The journey to independence in 1956 also incorporated the rebellious movements put forward by the South in the fear of a further undermined position. Eventually, this conflict was ended in 1972 with the peace agreement. Although a peace agreement was reached to put an end to the clashes between the North and South, it was not very successful resulting in another war in 1983. The major reason behind this violence could be accredited to the provisions of the peace plan especially on the way the regions were supposed to be divided and the introduction of the Sharia law. These tensions continued to exist finally reaching a peace deal to end the war in 2005. This agreement was signed between the rebels and the government. This deal actually gave the South a great degree of autonomy thereby giving them an option to secede. This was accepted and the South Sudan successfully separated in July, 2011. In contrast, the peace plan was not completely implemented. This is conspicuous from the fact that the trouble faced by the Kordofan and the Blue Nile were not given any priority and the related problem was unaddressed despite the clauses laid for them in the peace plan. Finally it was the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 that brought an end to the 22 years long war. The peace agreement was signed by the National Congress Party and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement. Although peace was reached through the CPA, the tensions continue because of the accusations of each party regarding the support provided to the rebel group. Such a condition continued when finally a referendum as suggested by the CPA was held in order to gain an insight that whether South should become independent or continue being a part of Sudan. The results showed that majority of the people were in favor of the independence. Conseuqently, South Sudan got its independence in July, 2011 (Jhonson 2011).

The split between the South and the North could be attributed to a number of different factors. One of the obvious reasons is the two civil wars between the two parts arising mainly because of the North being more developed and successful as compared to the South. The two factions have been different on the bases of people, language and religion. The South and the North were always kept at a hand's distance. This was from the time of Sudan being under British rule which had demarcated the two parts the Northern government could not get a seat in the South. Not only had this, upon leaving the country, the British given more power to the North thereby increasing the hatred of the South towards the North.

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Similarly, the Southern and the Northern part have been long divided on the issue of religion where Southerners mainly follow Christainity and the North consists of Arabs following the religion of Islam. This difference adds in to the conflict on the matter of following the Shariah law.

Therefore, the difference between the North and the South Sudan is present since a long period of time. This difference in the name of religion, practices, power and wealth have been a determinant in the era of fights between the two parts ultimately resulting in the split between the North Sudan and the South Sudan in 2011. Although it may have appeared that the South would cherish the independence by getting rid of being ruled and would finally enjoy its pool of resources, it continues to face a number of consequences.

In essence, the response of the people through the referendum did not address major issues such as the border demarcation, refugee problem, the division of oil revenue and other dimensions which continue to be a matter of serious concern till today. In other words, although the Split of North Sudan and South Sudan may appear to be a success especially to the southern part, within few months the reality took a bitter shape. This is because of the underlying fact that the terms and conditions of the split are yet to be agreed upon and the relationship between the parties is getting worse. Not only this, the South as well as the North Sudan continue to face internal conflicts along with economic tensions, the share of debt, the South using the North's pipeline, the issue of oil revenues and the problem of coming up with a new constitution. Not only this, serious threat remains at the border along with other damaging concerns such as increasing food prices, the lack of infrastructure and more. As a matter of fact, regardless of the peace agreement, the fluctuating violent relationship between the South and the North would continue to exist based on their previous relationship as seen by the attention caught by Darfur on one hand and the Upper Nile and Jonglei at the other.

Apart from the referendum focusing upon the independence of the South, it also incorporated clauses which were about dealing with the future of the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Abyei. All these three areas are very important since Abyei is the part which well-known for producing oil and is therefore claimed by the South as well as the North. Similarly, the Blue Nile and the South Kordofan are Muslim majority areas which played an important role in the civil war. Despite the promise of the peace agreement, the referendum in Abyei failed to be conducted as there was disagreement on the matter that whether Abyei should become a part of the South or the North. Same is the situation in Blue Nile as well as in the South Kordofan as the peace plan called for conducting consultations regarding the CPA renegotiating the plan in these respective areas. The consultaion did begin but it has a lot to emphasize upon (Dagne, T. 2011).

The split between the North and the South may have brought happiness to the Southern people and put an end to the ever exiting fight between he two parts, but the problem does not end with separation. Both the parts are exposed to a number of internal challenges especially with respect to the border where the South Sudan has invited several enemy states such as the Jonglei and the Upper Nile. Consequently, South accuses the North Sudan of being at the side of these rebels. As a matter of fact, South Sudan is considered to be one of the poorest countries present in the world. Independence has not brought many benefits for the South as it continues to struggle with the challenges of the economy, trade, and government. This can be seen from the fact that the food items which are not produced in the South Sudan are to be imported which has resulted in shortage of the basic necessities of life. This is widened because the North plays an important part in cutting off the trading route. On the other hand, there are a number of other trading partners but they are still in the process of accepting and recognizing the new South Sudan currency which does not yet belong to the East African Community. As a result,….....

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