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East Sudan insurgency

Last reviewed: 12-03-2007

REBEL THREAT IN IMPOVERISHED EAST


Sudan has had war in the south and west, and a decade-long low level revolt in the east has threatened to flare into full-scale conflict. But the mid-October 2006 signing of an agreement between eastern Sudanese rebels and Khartoum has given hope that peace could stabilise one of Sudan's most important areas economically

  • One of poorest regions in Sudan
  • Home to Sudan's largest gold mine and major oil pipeline
  • Drought forced many to abandon nomadic lifestyle

    The grievances of the Eastern Front, the coalition of rebels in east Sudan, are similar to those of the rebel groups in Darfur and southern Sudan. Put simply, they want more political power and a greater share of Sudan's oil profits.

    The October 2006 peace agreement, which sparked singing and dancing after it was signed, was the third peace deal Khartoum had negotiated in less than two years. If implemented, it could transform a region rich in natural resources but beset by poverty.

    Although the scale of the insurgency in the east has been small compared with Darfur's, the Eastern Front had the potential to cause considerable damage to the government.

    If the Eastern Front were ever to seize the eastern Port Sudan, the country's only deepwater port and the site of all the country's oil exports, it could disrupt most of Sudan's trade and wreak economic havoc across the country.

    KEY FACTS


    Annual income per capita (2004) Red Sea state: $93
    Kassala state: $156
    (U.N. 2005)
    Percentage of villages with access to healthcare Red Sea state: 20
    Kassala state: 50
    (U.N. 2005)
    Percentage children malnourished Kassala state: 44
    Red Sea state: 38.5
    (U.N. 2005)
    Percentage of children reported ill within a 2-week period (Kassala state) 53.6 (U.N. 2005)
    Child mortality rate 1.07 per 10,000 per day (U.N. 2005)
    Number of internally displaced people (2009) 420,000 (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre)
    Number of refugees (2006) 145,000 (UNHCR Global Appeal 2007)

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    Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) spokesman Yein Matthew briefs the media in the capital Khartoum May 25, 2009. A bomb was left outside a Khartoum office of the SPLM on Monday ...


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