By: Gatkuoth De-Lew, Juba, South Sudan
April 15, 2012 (SSNA) — The ongoing confrontation between the two newly separated Republics without borders and the likelihood of this conflict into an inescapable escalation from its earliest acts of strategic aggressions into the largest full scale war between Khartoum and Juba is not a little issue to be determined at the face value appearance.
Instantly; a great deal of necessity for an international arbiter to better judge this state of limbo should not be basing any commonsense on its consequences and outputs as why Heglig or Panthou has been taken by Juba and/or why civil population in all villages of Unity State are being targeted by Khartoum ‘s addicted aerial and random bombardments.
However; any rational judgment should be directed to immediate root causes of the conflict to enable us finding potentially possible solutions of the whole conflict over the whole region-Sudan other than sticking to the unfolding puzzles and the subjective versions on the air.
The root causes of such conflict is not only oil- dominated rivalry as many analysts summed it up to have been the case; but ill- definition of the entire borders of the two separately sovereign States is the main supply motivating each side of choosing conflict over cooperation and this cannot be easily addressed by just rhetoric hurling condemnations upon any one of the both countries.
Sudan as the united country between 1820 and 1956 was under successive dominations of the colonialists from Turko-Egyptian Rule under sultanate Empire of Ottoman (1821- 1885), Madhists rose and fell almost 14 years Rule (1885- 1899) and all crowned up by the last but not the least reign of Anglo-Egyptian condominium (1899- 1956) that conceded the political autonomy and territorial integrity to the people of Sudan under its last governor General Sir Alexander Knox Helmwho was keen on ensuring border demarcation of the North and South as this today stood as 1956 Border.
Therefore it is wise and the only potential option for any conclusion to be drawn by considering this conflict between the two countries not only as a charge confined to both Juba and Khartoum alone but the whole world particularly those friendly countries that were brokering CPA in Naivasha Kenya are to blame and be held accountable as why they were not so effective to acknowledge the withdrawal and redeployment of Sudan Troops to the 1956 Border line as it was stipulated in the CPA security Arrangement Protocol a process that was implemented unilaterally by the South Sudan side alone at its discretion as CPA aspired while SAF has had a retention of its troops in the southern territory to this day and thus the backbone of this conflict .
Khartoum Regime has failed to implement a number of key outstanding issues related to CPA protocols among others is their defiance to redeploy their forces along 1956 Border Line as enshrined in the CPA, withholding Popular consultations to Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains and manipulation of Abyei Referendum which was destined to be exercised by the Ngok Dinka natives who were and are the landlords of Abyei soil all of which are in vain.
These are the main factors which lie at the core heart of Sudanese conflict and as such Sudan as a region will degenerate into an all out war unless 1956 Border is activated and to be declared internationally recognised till pending issues are objectively addressed between the two countries.
To de-escalate this conflict the international community should not be fear- ridden in telling the plain truth which is the effecting of 1956 Border and recognise it as an international border line between the two States as it stood on 1st Jan.1956.
The two countries have to implement redeployments of their troops to the either side of the above border-line with UN and other supranational bodies to supervise the process empirically and aggressively with a strict execution supported by the imposition of the tightest deadline possible.
This should be but the only viable remedy that would work like a charm in restoring peace, security and bilateral relations between the two nation-states.
Many other influential issues are not ruled out of existence but 1956 Borderline Recognition is a positive solution to South and North Sudan Conflict.
The Author is a Student of International Relations and Diplomacy and can be reached at [email protected]