Written by Rebecca Tinsley on August 16, 2011 - www.e-ir.info
On July 9th diplomats celebrated the birth of Africa’s newest country, South Sudan, like over-stimulated toddlers at a party. The media followed suit, with trivial and sometimes patronising stories about the new national anthem and flag, and the admittedly strange plan to create cities in the shapes of African animals.
Sadly, those involved should have focused on the agenda items they failed to address before sending out the independence day invitations. Postponed until an unspecified time were:
- The location of the border between north and south;
- Who has citizenship, and what becomes of the millions of southerners living in the north;
- How much the north would charge the south to tranship its oil across northern territory to Port Sudan.
Each issue has the potential to reignite war. Consequently, and entirely predictably, the region is falling apart before our eyes.
According to Human Rights Watch, the northern Sudanese regime of President Bashir, based in Khartoum, has been bombing South Kordofan state, in the disputed border area, on an almost daily basis since June; satellites reveal freshly-dug mass graves www.satsentinel.org; and the UN’s OCHA estimates 200,000 civilians have been killed, wounded or have fled their homes to hide in the Nuba mountains where they face starvation. Given these unpromising events, celebrating the birth of the Republic of South Sudan (ROSS) seems premature.
