Blog 3: South Sudan's Next Humanitarian Crisis

Last post, I talked about the ethnic conflict going on in South Sudan between the Lau Nuer and the Murle tribes. As a recap, the ongoing conflict dates back before the Sudanese civil war and the independence of South Sudan. These years and years of conflict involves cattle theft, kidnapping, and revenge. The violence continues to escalate with the times. Especially because it is not the only conflict going on in the state.

The article talks about the two major conflicts happening in South Sudan. One is the ethnic battle between the Lau Nuer and Murle tribes and the other is the conflict between Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The conflict between the Blue Nile and South Kordofan people is a reaction to the seperation of Sudan into two states. Since the new boarder is unclear, there are disputes over land and the disputes lead back to the people of Blue Nile and the people of South Kordofan.

This conflict, between the Blue Nile people and the people of South Kordofan, occuring at the same time as the ethnic war between the Lau Nuer and Murle tribes is causing a lot of issues for civilians in Sudan. Many people, who are not involved in either conflict are being hurt in the crossfire of these issues and many others are being displaced. With all of these civilians being displaced from their respective homes, the United Nations Food Programme (UNWFO) will assist 80,000 people in South Sudan's Jonglei state. The good news for the UNWFO is that the displacement seems to be only in South Sudan, but there is concern that it will grow.

From a sociological point of view, the conflicts in South Sudan are great examples of outside influences that initiate conflict. In class, we've been talking a lot about power and government structures. We've also talked about hierarchies of class, power, and how these hierarchies are not only within our societies, but in the rating of countries. Imperialism is an action that we see happen that is initiated by a dominant world power, or a dominant country in general. Those Imperialists come into a country, divide it up and impose a new government on the people who live in it. Then, when the imperialized country is to the liking of the dominant countries government, the imperialists leave and conflict arises.

Although the reason for the separation of states in South Sudan is not specifically stated in the article, once there is a separation of space, especially when the lines are unclear, problems arise. How do these people even know who's land is specifically who's if it isn't clearly designated? Amount of land is related to the power of the people and so indirectly, the Blue Nile and the South Kordofon people are not fighting just over space, but power as well. The  Lau Nuer and Murle tribes are fighting over the same thing, power. When it comes to issues, like land ownership and ethnic division, the fight is not about who gets what, it's about how powerful what they achieve makes them.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/south-sudans-next-humanitarian-crisis/252411/#.Tyv8n2krjms.email