THE BOMA ASSISTANCE GROUP
FOR SOUTH SUDAN
A STORY OF STRUGGLES
The people of South Sudan have lived an ongoing tragedy since at least 1955. With the exception of a brief period of peace from 1972 until 1982, the South Sudanese have lived in conflict. Millions were killed and forcibly starved; more millions were displaced. Tens of thousands were taken into slavery and a similar number of women were raped as a tool of war.
Religion, racial prejudice, economic exploitation, colonialism, tribal issues, greed and poor leadership complex roles in the lives of the people of South Sudan. These people have demonstrated great flexibility and resilience in surviving this difficult period.
When the British rule ended, control was given to the Arab Muslims in the North with no significant input from the Africans of Christian and other beliefs in the South. Southerners rebelled and the two sides fought to a standstill. In 1972 a peace agreement called the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed granting significant self-governance to the Southerners. Relative peace then continued for about 10 years.
In 1983, the President of Sudan (which included the South) re-imposed old and established new laws which made Sharia the law of the entire country, Islam the official religion, and Arabic the official language. As a result, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was formed to organize resistance, and civil war raged throughout the South.
The Government of Sudan, which was moving toward peace with the SPLA, was overthrown in 1989, and a radical National Islamic Front (NIF) government took control. The NIF greatly increased the enforcement of Islamic Law and incorporated militia groups called the Janjaweed into its military forces.
Bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were blamed on the Sudanese government and the U.S. responded by launching a missile attack on a “pharmaceutical” plant in 1998.
In 2005 with the participation of the U.S., Britain, Norway and several East African countries a successful end to the 20+ year conflict between the Government of Sudan and the SPLA. Following a six-year period, the people of South Sudan gained their independence in 2011. Peace was short lived as the new nation plunged into its own civil war following a slaughter of ethnic minorities in the new nation’s capital in December 2013.
Today there are ongoing efforts to establish a unity government to implements Peace Agreements signed in 2015 and 2018 which unfortunately do not effectively address the long term issues of the nation. These agreements fail to result in an inclusive new government nor do they address tribalism, poor leadership, past humanitarian abuse nor corruption.
