The Sudan Insider, from NUBA REPORTS
News from the Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile, and Darfur
[see also video URL below]
This is our Sudan Insider, a debrief from Nuba Reports that highlights important developments in Sudan and what they mean. Here’s the latest. If you have questions or want more information,please to write us at info@nubareports.org
Thank You,
The Nuba Reports Team
Ceasefires declared from above in Sudan routinely fail to halt violence on the ground entirely.
Civilians in central and western Darfur experienced this first-hand at the beginning of 2017, just days after President Bashir extended a ceasefire. In two separate incidents, a total of 16 people were reportedly killed and more than 75 wounded. While the government disputes it, eyewitnesses told Nuba Reports soldiers indiscriminately attacked residents of Nertiti town, in the restive Jebel Mara region of central Darfur, after a soldier was killed. To the south, government and rebel forces clashed in Blue Nile in December and again in January. See | https://nubareports.org/sudan-insider-more-violence-in-darfur-more-ceasefires-breachednocache1/
One of the victims of the Nertiti Massacre, January 1, 2017
President Bashir this fall predicted it would be easier for Sudan to work with than President-Elect Trump.
But it was the Obama administration that sweetened U.S. dealings with Sudan in its final days, easing 20 years of economic sanctions on the country – first for 180 days, then permanently provided certain “positive actions” are sustained. The development prompted heated debate. It’s the Trump administration’s move now. Will they re-enact sanctions or permanently remove them? And with the government’s tight grip on independent media and civil society, how can Sudan’s commitments be tracked? See | https://nubareports.org/sudan-insider-us-sanctions-against-sudan-lifted-after-20-years/
Civilians in Sudan’s rebel-controlled Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile may experience their first dry season without bombings in six years of war, thanks to a ceasefire condition tied to U.S. sanctions relief.
Yet an estimated 600,000 remain in need of humanitarian aid, and food security is a major concern this year. Efforts to secure aid delivery in the last days of Obama’s presidency fell short, to the frustration of outgoing U.S. Special Envoy Donald Booth. The government and rebels continue to clash on whether 20 percent of the aid will come cross-border, a sticking point in the last talks as well. See | https://nubareports.org/sudan-insider-all-talk-no-humanitarian-action/
Blue Nile refugees living in South Sudan’s Maban County remain at odds with the local host community, as both groups struggle to get by. Three days of deadly violence over Christmas prompted a large number of refugees to return to Blue Nile state, several sources said, despite limited or no access to farmland in a region where one-quarter of the population is displaced. With the promise of a six-month ceasefire, more Sudanese refugees from Blue Nile as well as the Nuba Mountains may play the odds and leave South Sudan for the conflict zones they fled. See | https://nubareports.org/sudan-insider-tensions-continue-in-maban-refugee-camp/
Click to enlarge
