Sudan is the Solution to South Sudan's Problems
By <
http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/uzayr> Sufyan bin Uzayr
Global Research, June 04, 2014
In spite of the recent peace deal, the conflict in South Sudan seems to be
far from over. Almost all the regional and international players that are
involved in the peace process have their own agenda to pursue, and this has
left the South Sudanese people highly vulnerable.
Amidst all this conflict, Sudan has managed to keep quiet. However, time has
come for Sudan to be pro-active and play a bigger role in the current
conflict in South Sudan. In all likelihood, only Sudan can pave the path
towards sustainable peace in South Sudan.
South Sudan: Deplorable Conditions
It has been quite some time since clashes erupted in South Sudan. The
fighting, which initially began as a tug of war for political power between
President Salva Kiir and the then Deputy President Riek Machar, eventually
became a full-fledged civil war.
As of now, there have been thousands of deaths and millions have been
internally displaced. Human rights violations have become a normal sight in
South Sudan, according to the latest
<
http://unmiss.unmissions.org/Portals/unmiss/%20Press%20Releases/May%202014/
14%20-%2005%20HR%20report%20.pdf> UN reports. Tribal strife, fractured army,
devastated socio-economic prospects and loss of life and property have
severely crippled South Sudan, and the country is, in all likelihood,
<
http://politicalperiscope.com/south-sudan-failed-state/> a failed state.
Last month, both the rival factions involved in the South Sudanese crisis
<
http://www.sudantribune.com/IMG/pdf/agreement_to_resolve_the_crisis_in_sout
h_sudan.pdf> signed a peace deal. Apart from the formation of a transitional
government, the said deal also talks about the immediate end of conflict and
potential humanitarian relief work.
However, this peace deal is highly fragile owing to a number of reasons.
First, the parties involved in the civil war have been fighting to grab
power, and they are uninterested in any peace treaty that does not assure
them of absolute political superiority. Second, the role of the
international and regional players too has been unsatisfactory.
For that matter, the body language of South Sudan leaders who signed the
peace deal too was far from impressive. In fact, Daily Nation
<
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Kiir--Machar-differ-peace-deal/-/1064
/2312400/-/u5og81z/-/index.html> reported that President Salva Kiir himself
admitted that he was being forced to sign the deal in order to avoid arrest.
The International Community's Role
Ever since the formation of South Sudan, the United Nations has been
involved in humanitarian aid and relief work. But UNMISS, in spite of its
best efforts, is in the good books of neither the South Sudanese government
nor the rebels. Similarly, international NGOs and donors who had signed
bilateral trade agreements with South Sudan too are now left disillusioned
by the unimpressive policies of the government and the rebels.
South Sudan's divorce from Sudan was brokered by the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD). However, IGAD's credentials have now come
under the scanner. Uganda, one of the member-states of IGAD, has openly
sided with Kiir's government, and this has not made Machar's troops very
happy.
Ethiopia and Kenya too are no longer being viewed as trustworthy players,
because both of them have their own regional agenda to pursue. Similarly,
even Rwanda is an unacceptable mediator because many Rwandan troops aid and
work for UNMISS, which, once again, is not the favorite entity of South
Sudanese government and rebels alike.
Egypt, not a member of IGAD, has offered to contribute to the proposed Peace
Enforcement Forces. However, it is being alleged that in lieu of its
contributions, Egypt will seek South Sudan's support against Ethiopia
regarding the River Nile Renaissance Dam.
South Africa, US, UK, China, Norway, African Union and European Union have
appointed special envoys to keep an eye on the situation.
The Key Player? Sudan!
Amidst all this chaos, there is one country that has better understanding of
the South Sudan conflict than any other state or body - Sudan.
So far, Sudan has kept itself aloof from the ongoing conflict. Owing to
unresolved issues between Sudan and South Sudan, it was being assumed that
the former will attempt to take advantage of the latter's miserable position
and further its oil interests in the region, but none of that has happened.
In fact, unlike the members of IGAD, Sudan has ruled out any form of direct
political involvement in South Sudan.
Several African states, including South Sudan, have termed Sudan's potential
involvement in the conflict as 'party spoiler'. However, if there is one
country that can actually claim to have understanding of South Sudan's
tribal friction and geopolitical strategy, it is Sudan! As a matter of fact,
Sudan's involvement can also ensure that South Sudan does not become a proxy
colony of international actors and/or regional hegemons such as Ethiopia and
Kenya.
Conclusion
Back in 1965, during the course of the then ongoing roundtable discussions
the South Sudan issue, it took longer to agree on who would represent the
'south', than it took to make the actual agreement. Quite obviously, the
southern part of Sudan has always been a divided lot, and seems pretty much
incapable of standing on its feet. For that matter, anyone who felt South
Sudan will do a good job as an independent nation has now been silenced,
because the country seems
<
http://politicalperiscope.com/south-sudan-failed-justify-existence/> headed
towards failure.
Yet, Sudan can be the saviour that South Sudan needs. The unjust
balkanization of Sudan, which resulted in the creation of South Sudan is
surely a bad memory, but it is high time Sudan accepted the role of being
'the better neighbor', because the South Sudanese folks seem incapable of
putting their house in order all by themselves.
As such, Riek Machar's visit to Khartoum presents a peacebuilding
opportunity that can restore trust between the two countries. South Sudan's
fragile state of affairs need to be fixed, and Sudan can do the needful.
South Sudan is the problem; it is time for Sudan to be the solution.
Sufyan bin Uzayr is the author of "Sufism: A Brief History". He writes for
several print and online publications, and regularly blogs about issues of
contemporary relevance at <
http://politicalperiscope.com/> Political
Periscope ( <
http://www.politicalperiscope.com/>
www.politicalperiscope.com). You can also connect with him using
<
https://www.facebook.com/sufyanism/> Facebook(
<
http://facebook.com/sufyanism>
http://facebook.com/sufyanism) or
<
https://plus.google.com/115498054513455591085?rel=author> Google+ (
<
https://plus.google.com/+SufyanbinUzayr?rel=author>
https://plus.google.com/+SufyanbinUzayr?rel=author) or email him at
<mailto:sufyan_at_politicalperiscope.com> sufyan_at_politicalperiscope.com
Received on Wed Jun 04 2014 - 18:45:55 EDT