Civil War and Renewed Drought Inaugurate Second Famine in Sudan

By Jean N. Mainer

"The history of our region demonstrates that political leaders among both government and opposition forces alike too often consider the morality of their actions very narrowly. And while they may weigh their objectives against possible human losses and costs, they nevertheless engage in the most flagrant violations of accepted norms of conduct. "—Abdul Mohammed in Humanitarianism Under Siege: A Critical Review of Operation Lifeline Sudan, June 1990*

The words above by Sudanese relief worker Abdul Mohammed could be applied to political disputes almost anywhere in the world, but they take on a devastating urgency in Sudan where, as a terrible drought spreads across the country, its people are faced with starvation for the second time in five years. The description of the country's political leaders is chillingly accurate.

No previous Sudanese administration has had such a hostile attitude toward relief and development efforts.

On one hand, there is Brigadier Omar Hassan Al-Bashir's Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the military regime in Khartoum. It is closely allied with and influenced by the fundamentalist National Islamic Front. Together, apparently, they are capable of little more than repressing dissent by jailing and allegedly torturing critics. On the other hand, there is the rebel movement led by Col. John Garang, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/ SPLA), which has employed brutal tactics towards civilian populations such as besieging government-held towns in the south and preventing food and supplies from reaching townspeople.

While professing concern for the interests of all Sudanese, the RCC basically represents a very narrow segment of northern Arab, fundamentalist Muslim interests. Garang's movement draws most of its support from southern African Sudanese professing either Christian or traditional religious beliefs. Garang has called for a secular government in all of Sudan, one in which southerners have a fair share of control over their wealth and resources. The RCC rejects such a plan, and the civil war grinds on.

Even as regional Sudanese leaders sought to choose the lesser of two political evils, by early September of this year it was clear the normal four-month rainy season had failed to materialize in most of the northern half of the country, and parts of the south. The result is virtual crop failure in some areas.

A Potential Catastrophe

The US Agency for International Development's Famine Early Warning System adviser in Sudan has characterized the evolving drought as potentially catastrophic. Recent estimates by other experts in the region suggest that millions of Sudanese could die of drought-related causes in the coming year.

Thousands of people are now searching for food and water, and emaciated children appear with haggard parents at relief camps in Kordofan and elsewhere. Yet the RCC denies there is a famine and persists in pursuing economic and political policies that have alienated virtually every remaining ally. The RCC's relentless conduct of the civil war has bankrupted the country and exacerbated the already serious shortages of essential commodities, such as soap and milk. In some areas, there has been an almost ten-fold increase in the price of the food staple grain sorghum, due to the drought-related crop failure. Aid workers returning tell of antigovernment demonstrations in some towns.

Although many foreign governments and relief agencies stand ready to send food and other assistance, there is little chance such aid will reach the Sudanese people in the near future. Since June 1989, when Al-Bashir overthrew the democratically elected Sadiq Al-Mahdi administration, the official attitude toward Western non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other donors has soured, resulting in a pattern of obstruction of many donor activities.

NGOs often must wait for months before shipments of medicines, vehicles and supplies are released from customs. While one ministry may wish to be cooperative, another ministry, for undeclared reasons, will sequester letters and documents necessary for processing shipments through customs. Meanwhile, medicines and foodstuffs spoil in the blistering heat of an airfield hangar or on a dock in Port Sudan.

The hardest-hit programs appear to be those designed to benefit Sudanese from southern tribes, many of whom are supporting the SPLM/A, although many such programs provide assistance to both displaced southerners and local Arab Sudanese residents. Thus any government interference with such "mixed beneficiary" projects delays assistance to the very populations whom the present regime in Khartoum claims to represent, namely Arabic-speaking Muslim northerners.

Profound But Understandable Paranoia

Relief workers find it difficult to comprehend the logic in such a policy of harassment, except as a manifestation of the profound paranoia concerning Western interference in the country's internal affairs. The suspicion is understandable, however, given the legacy of British colonial rule and exploitation, and allegations of Israeli support for rebel activities. Additionally, the fear that a healthy, well-fed southern Sudanese population will live to fight the government at some point in the future has led many officials and residents of Kordofan to adopt a hostile attitude toward anyone suspected of aiding the "fifth column" in their area.

Along with the usual difficulties encountered in the course of relief and development work in the country, such as the labyrinthian bureaucracy, fuel and spare parts shortages, crumbling infrastructure and "brain drain," the current government harassment of aid agencies has forced many of them to abandon their efforts and pull out of the country, at a time when the Sudanese people can least afford it.

Now, some Western relief and development personnel still working in the Sudan have expressed concern that, should conflict erupt in the Arabian Gulf, they may become targets of the pro-Iraqi Khartoum regime. Last year's shoot-down of a French relief plane, in which four aid workers were killed, was a horrifying incident that certainly had a chilling effect on relief workers.

Sadly, as famine looms again, hopes for a cooperative spirit this time are fading.

No previous Sudanese administration has had such a hostile attitude toward relief and development efforts. During the height of "The Emergency, " as the 1984-86 drought and influx into Sudan of Ethiopian refugees came to be known, as many as 50 NGOs provided food, medical and technical assistance in the Sudan. At that time, Sudanese authorities at most levels did their best to facilitate relief efforts, and hundred of thousands of Sudanese and Ethiopians benefitted.

Sadly, as famine looms again, hopes for such a cooperative spirit this time are fading. Furthermore, the US government has suspended all AID development projects, leaving only a "skeleton crew" of disaster relief advisers in the country. The British government reportedly also has decided to suspend development assistance. Latest reports from US officials and relief agencies tell of renewed government bombing in the south.

As a result, vitally needed Operation Lifeline supplies can only reach beneficiaries by overland routes. Red Cross flights have reportedly been stopped, and beleaguered residents of the town of Malakal currently endure a food shortage and fighting in their area.

With such a bleak outlook for the country, it is difficult to see anything other than total collapse and chaos ahead. Yet the Sudanese people, remarkably patient and perpetually resilient, could yet be saved another ordeal by famine.

Their fate lies largely in the hands of the Khartoum regime, which could open the gates for foreign assistance by declaring an immediate cease-fire with the rebels and scheduling elections and peace talks in the near future. This would restore some of the international community's faith in the prospects for political and economic stability and allow donor nations to resume assistance.

Jean N. Mainer is a Washington, DC-based nurse who has recently returned from Sudan.

*Humanitarianism Under Siege: A Critical Review of Operation Lifeline Sudan, by Larry Minear with Abdul Mohammed, et al, 1990, the Red Sea Press, Inc. and Bread for One World/Institute on Hunger and Development.