Migration and Refugees in Sudan

Migration and Refugees in Sudan

The historical record is replete with examples of large numbers of people being displaced and forced to move to other countries, but perhaps nowhere has this process been so pronounced or sustained than in 21st century Sudan. While the international community has largely ignored the problem, millions of Sudanese, mostly women and children, have been forced to flee their homes as the result of government-sponsored violence that has involved torture, rape, human slavery and countless deaths. The fact that the problem continues highlights the need for a timely and informed response by the international community. To determine what this would entail, this paper presents a review of the relevant literature to provide the legal and practical definition of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons and considers factors that may affect those within these categories, an analysis of the factors contributing to the problem in the Sudan, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures used to solve the problem to date, followed by a summary of the research, suggestions for alternative approaches and supporting rationale in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Background, Overview and Definitions

Consultation of Black's Law Dictionary (1991) confirms that there is no legal definition for migrant, refugee or internally displaced person, but the International Organization (IOM) for Migration defines internally displaced persons as being "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border" (Internally displaced persons 2012, p. 1). The IOM also notes the absence of a legal definition for the term internally displaced person, but suggests that for practical purposes, the foregoing definition has some important considerations for regional and international policymakers seeking to develop timely and informed solutions to this well-entrenched problem, including the following:

1. The definition of internally displaced persons is not a legal definition but simply a descriptive one. It does not confer a legal status in the same sense that recognition as a "refugee" does. This is not necessary because, unlike refugees who have lost the protection of their own country and therefore need substitute international protection and require a special status to access this protection, the rights and guarantees to which internally displaced persons are entitled stem from the fact that they are human beings and citizens or habitual residents of a particular State.

2. Internally displaced persons have special needs precisely because of their displacement. This is true whether they are in camps, have merged into urban slums, or are hiding to avoid identification.

3. The purpose of paying specific attention to the plight of internally displaced persons as such is not to confer on them a privileged status, but to ensure that their unique needs are addressed, along with those of other groups.

4. The conditions of danger and deprivation that characterize situations of internal displacement can take a tremendous toll: the highest mortality and malnutrition rates recorded in humanitarian emergencies this past decade have involved internally displaced persons. Uprooted from their homes, separated from their community support networks and often from their families, and shorn of their resource base, internally displaced persons suddenly find themselves stripped of the most basic sources of security and survival. Compounding their plight, displacement exposes its victims to additional vulnerabilities and risks.

5. Internally displaced persons frequently remain caught in areas of armed conflict and under threat of armed attack, physical assault, sexual violence, and forced conscription. They can be particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. Many lack adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care.

By contrast, migrant workers are defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrants for practical purposes as a "person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national" and refugees are defined by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as being:

Any person who . . . owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. (Convention relating to the Status of Refugees: Article 1. -- Definition of the term "refugee" 1954)

In some cases, the terms migrant, refugee and internally displaced persons can overlap in meaning, but a common theme the runs through all of these definitions is forced relocation for natural or manmade causes. In this case, forced migration has been a problem in the Sudan since 1967, and following an escalation in 1984, has continued to adversely affect the stability of the region as well as hundreds of thousands of Sudanese, primarily women and children (Nilsson 2000). The precise numbers of victims that are involved remain unclear, but estimates by international organizations such as the United Nations indicate they are enormous by any measure (Nilsson 2000). In this regard, Nilsson reports that, "The Sudan gained independence in 1956 and has experienced two periods of civil war (1955 -- 1972, and 1983-ongoing) that have brought great suffering to the population. The number of people that have died as a result of the second period of the civil war is estimated to be more than 1.5 million and as many as 1.9 million people have died since 1983 due to the war" (p. 7).

Contributing Factors

A wide array of political conflicts are the primary contributing factors to the ongoing problems in the Sudan, with these being localized among groups in the north and south of the country (Nilsson 2000). According to this authority, "In 1989, the military staged a coup under the leadership of Omar Hassan al-Bashir who is still in command. A power struggle in the north between President al Bashir and the National Islamic Front (NIF) leader Hassan al Turabi has been adding to the instability in the Sudan" (Nilsson 2000, p. 8). The southern faction, primarily comprised of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) led by John Garang, is the ruling elite's primary threat (Nilsson 2000). Making the situation even more complex is the fact that the power in these two factions is not really consolidated, but rather remains a hotly contested issue among various ethnic groups that want a larger share of whatever outcome develops in the future, most especially the valuable oil reserves in the southern part of the country (Nilssson 2000). According to U.S. government analysts, "Sudan is an extremely poor country that has had to deal with social conflict, civil war, and the July 2011 secession of South Sudan -- the region of the country that had been responsible for about three-fourths of the former Sudan's total oil production" (Sudan economy 2012, p. 1). Although the international community has managed to develop this resource despite the ongoing violence, but these efforts are being constrained by interethnic rivalries that make keeping track of the main actors difficult but what is known is that the bottom line for the people of the Sudan is more violence in an effort to gain control over what may prove to be the country's sole saving grace. For instance, Nilsson reports that, "The SPLA has also experienced internal divisions and in 1991 a split resulted in deadly interethnic fighting among people in the South" (2000, p. 8). Although the country's oil reserves are located primary in the southern region of the Sudan, access to international ports remains under the control of the ruling elite in the northern part of the country are shown in the political map of the Sudan in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Political Map of the Sudan

Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html

The paucity of clear-cut definitional guidelines and an informed and timely response on the part of the international community and neighboring African nations have also contributed to the complexity of the problems in the Sudan. For instance, according to the International Organization for Migration:

Internally displaced persons often are uprooted for the same reasons as refugees. However, because they remain within their own countries and under the jurisdiction of their governments, they are excluded from the international protection afforded to refugees. Had these persons, having been uprooted for the same reasons as refugees, crossed a border, they would have a well established international system of protection and assistance to turn to under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. ('Internally displaced persons' 2012)

Just as North Korea has defied efforts by the international community to oversee distribution of food and medical assistance, the ruling elite as well as the ongoing interethnic violence and a dismal lack of basic transportation infrastructure has made it virtually impossible for effective assistance to be provided to the growing numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons. In this regard, the main fault can be attributed to the ruling elite because: "Primary responsibility for assisting and protecting internally displaced persons rests with their own governments. Should governments prove unable or unwilling to discharge this responsibility, however, governments are expected to invite or at least accept international assistance for ensuring the welfare and security of internally displaced persons" ('Internally displaced persons' 2012). Nevertheless, it is also clear that the international community has a moral obligation to stop this violence and assist the people who are already disaffected by its impact.

There have been some efforts to enlist the support of neighboring countries to help the SPLA consolidate its power, but the stated mission of this organization may make some neighboring countries headed by autocratic rulers nervous in the post-Arab Spring environment, but Nilsson reports that many have lined up in support of the SPLA anyway. In this regard Nilsson advises that, "In 1996 the SPLA joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is a coalition of political opposition groups. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda supported this alliance, which has one unitary goal -- to overthrow the government of the Sudan" (2000, p. 8). Unfortunately, the complexity of these interethnic conflicts and the apparent invisibility of the problem on the international community's radar have contributed to a lack of the effectiveness of the measures used to address these problems which are discussed further below.