THE LARGEST AFRICAN COUNTRY INVOLVED IN A NEVER-ENDING CIVIL WAR

A difficult historical path

North Sudan, which was Christian from the 6th century, became progressively more Arabic and Islamic over the next thousand years. In 1821 this region was conquered by Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt, and for a century and a quarter remained first under Egyptian and Turkish domination, and later Anglo-Egyptian rule.
Since independence in 1956, Sudan has alternated between periods of democracy and dictatorship, the latter being much longer than the former and generally caused by the army overthrowing the government. This is how the Islamic Government of General Omar el Béchir came into power in 1989. The unofficial, but very influential advisor to the General was, for many years, Sheik Hassan el Tourabi. Independence marked the beginning of a deadly, virtually unbroken civil war between the Arab and Moslem North and the South, almost entirely inhabited by black Animists and Christians.
During the last twenty years this war has caused more than two million deaths, four or five million displaced persons and almost as many refugees in other countries. A peace conference, sponsored by neighbouring countries takes place regularly but with little result. However, under pressure from the United States and several European countries, the two sides are, at last, beginning to make some progress.

A half a century of civil war

Thousands of Sudanese from the South, Christians and Animists for the most part, leave the war zone each year to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most people, however, do not have the means to pay the passage to the border and for these the torment begins: they generally set off in the direction of Khartoum. They do not all make it since many die of hunger or as a result of injuries on the way. Some are arrested, imprisoned or even sold as slaves. Those who finally make it to Khartoum find themselves crammed, often forcibly, into camps without any infrastructure. The hovels they build themselves need to be rebuilt every year since they are torn down by the wind and rain. There are at present more than two million people trying to survive in such conditions. The only support and help these people receive is from the churches and NGOs. In all the camps around the capital, the Swiss Association of Friends of Sister Emmanuelle, through the intermediary of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, provides an enormous amount of assistance to this population in distress.