Sudan Update

Situation in Doro, eastern Upper Nile State
South Sudan

22 November 2011

Chris Crowder, SIM Sudan Area Director

Through various sources, we've been able to gather some information on the situation in Doro. What we do know: Tens of thousands of refugees are streaming in from Blue Nile region, and have camped out at Doro, as they are not allowed in the neighbouring trading centre of Bunj. The sea of people stretches for many kilometres.

We have heard that conditions are very bad. Young and old are suffering, as they have walked many kilometres without adequate food or water. (Some have been walking for up to a month, coming from Blue Nile Region.) Last night, temperatures dropped to 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 Celsius), leaving blankets and clothing wet from heavy dew, presenting a risk of hypothermia. The UN has now assumed responsibility for refugees in this area (they are "wards" of the UN), and our understanding is that the UN plans to set up a permanent camp in Doro.

In regards to security, there have been no bombings within Upper Nile region since the last incident in New Guffa. Many bombings have been reported inside Blue Nile State (ie. Chali, Yabus airstrip, Bellatuma), and theoretically, bombing in Doro is still a possibility. However, two SPLA (army of South Sudan) divisions have formed a defensive curtain along the border between South Sudan and Sudan. Many have cited the possibility of cross-border militia attacks.

As of now, the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) has a presence in Doro, along with a handful of other volunteers from various NGOs. The Doro Primary Health Care Unit is currently being operated by our Community Health Workers, trained by Barb Hartwig and Vicki Beattie in the CHW program. Dr. Atar, a Sudanese doctor from Kurmuk, has set up his operations in Bunj clinic, with support from Samaritan's Purse (SP). SP is sending an assessment team of 3-4 people into Doro this week to determine the current situation, and to do a basic security, health and WASH (Water and Sanitation) assessment. SIM is open to sending in a similar team for assessment purposes, to determine what the current patient load is at the clinic, and to collect accurate data on the situation in Doro.

Now that Doro village is host to tens of thousands of refugees, we believe that the human landscape of Doro area has been completely altered. Our brothers and sisters from the SIC church of Blue Nile have scattered to Ethiopia and to Mabaan country. God's people, who became a church through SIM's efforts, are now in trouble again.

We covet your prayers as we wrestle with these questions, desiring to be sensitive to God's leading.

Pray that SIM's Safe Drinking Water program, based in Doro can respond through our borehole drilling partners

Pray for protection for the young and the old
Pray for permanent camp facilities to develop quickly
Entreat the Lord for workers to help reopen the SIM Doro PHCC
Pray that the bombing and militia attacks in Blue Nile would cease

Team Evacuated from Doro, South Sudan

9 November 2011

Because of deteriorating security conditions, six SIM team members from Doro base have been flown out of Doro this morning at 10:55 AM on an AIM Caravan and are due to arrive in Nairobi at 5:45 PM this evening. The remaining five team members have stayed behind in order to close down Doro base in an orderly way until the situation calms.

The conflict in Blue Nile state is threatening to spill over into Upper Nile. As of last night, 8 November, the sights and sounds of war have come very close. What caused this decision to extract this first wave of Doro team members was a serious and deliberate aerial bombing of New Guffa 30 kilometers north of Boing (Guffa is in South Sudan, Upper Nile state). Many Southern Sudanese have been wounded. There have been several indications of insecurity, but this direct attack on Upper Nile is a clear sign the conflict could be approaching the Doro area.

Please keep in your prayers Bob Ihrig, Karissa Cail, Christiane Fox, Neil Ingall, and Sheila West, as they take care of procedures for closing down the base. We do not believe they are currently in harm’s way. Also lift up Nehemiah, our Southern Sudanese compound manager, who is faithfully watching over SIM facilities and staff in Doro.

Please remember our Sudanese brothers and sisters in Christ who remain in harm's way, those who have already been affected by this growing conflict, sharing in the sufferings of our Savior. Finally, please pray that cooler heads would prevail and that provocations would not lead to further conflict.

Sudan Independence celebrations

Thank you for praying for Sudan! On 9 July 2011 Southern Sudan became the newest nation on earth and we praise God for His goodness. A nation of people who have known only war and suffering for decades, now have the hope of a new future.
Enjoy these photos of the celebrations, sent from our people on the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFN-xRusX3g&feature=youtube_gdata

Will you continue to pray for our ministries in Sudan as we continue to help rebuild Sudan, Church and nation? Pray that many will come to know Jesus and find eternal hope in him.
Pray for peace, especially in the border region between north and south where there needs to be resolution to significant issues. Pray for wise and honest leadership in the governing and development of this new nation.

South Sudan: Independence is just the beginning (CNN)

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/08/

south.sudan.future/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

South Sudan war widow: 'I will have a country at last' (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14030814

South Sudan: New Nation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12070034

Independence day - 9 July 2011

A new nation will be born tomorrow, July 9, 2011--

the nation of South Sudan.

The long awaited independence of South Sudan is just around the corner. Celebrations are set to take place on 9 July 2011 when many expect that Southern Sudanese will assemble together in euphoria. Truly, one of Africa’s longest running civil wars has accounted for the deaths of close to two million people over more than two decades. Does the inauguration of a new country put an end to this ugly chapter?

Fighting reignited in Abyei and Nuba Mountains, two out of the three transitional areas spanning the North-South divide. What happens on July 10th, after the declaration of independence for South Sudan? What we know is this: there are tens of thousands who have lost their lives in the last three weeks of fighting in these volatile regions. We must continue to pray for peace.

Pray with us:

Peace during the July 9th independence day of South Sudan
Peace in Nuba mountains where hundreds have died and over 75,000 are displaced from recent fighting
Peace in Abyei and for the many who have also been displaced due to insecurity
Continued peace in Blue Nile state where SIM missionaries serve
The thwarting of evil plans by various militias operating in the border areas.

Watch Video from BBC
South Sudan independence: What you need to know - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14054589

16 June 2011
Almost 100 killed in south Sudan clashes

Clashes in south Sudan have killed almost 100 people in separate cattle raids and rebel attacks in the past week, as the soon-to-be independent state struggles to contain bloody violence.The northern military has launched air strikes against groups that are aligned to the country's south, which i...

To read the full story on a PC or Mac please use this link
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/15/3244909.htm

To read the full story on your mobile please use this link
http://m.abc.net.au/browse?page=11144%26articleid=3244909%26cat=Justin

11 June 2011
North Sudan accused of bombing South

South Sudan's army has accused the North of bombing a village in an oil-rich region a month before it is due to become independent.The alleged bombing represents the second major incursion into the South in as many weeks.More than 100,000 people have already fled recent fighting along an uncertain...

To read the full story on a PC or Mac please use this link
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/11/3241531.htm

To read the full story on your mobile please use this link
http://m.abc.net.au/browse?page=11144%26articleid=3241531%26cat=Justin

As we approach this historic day, violence, food shortages, and uncertainty are only escalating.

The SIM base of Yabus, Blue Nile state, is officially closed until further notice following a statement by the Northern army saying it will occupy Blue Nile state beginning June 1. This means the secondary school and other church ministries have completely stopped. In fact, the Southern army is now occupying the SIM base. Please pray for protection for the facilities. The SIM team from Yabus is now safely in Nairobi. Many Sudanese friends remain in an uncertain situation. Please pray for them!

24 May 2011
Abyei taken by North Sudan Forces

PLEASE PRAY WITH US for the Lord to calm Abyei, a disputed area of Sudan which was overrun by Northern forces. So far, the South has not responded with violence. Pray that cool leaders will be able to impose calm on both sides of the contested area.
• Pray that trade embargoes would be lifted. Price wars and shortages are impacting people's lives in many places, both North and South.
• Pray for the legal separation of North and South on 8 July 2011.
• Lift up leadership in the three disputed states whose status is very much in limbo: Southern Khordufan, Abyei, and Blue Nile.
• Intercede for all church leaders who are involved in peace and reconciliation conferences in conjunction with the Sudan Council of Churches.
Thank you for standing with the people of Sudan and the Sudanese church through your prayers!

Sudan: The tug of war in Abyei

Watch video: A Look Back - SIM in Southern Sudan (7.21 mins)

Following the referendum

Thank you for praying for the Sudan referendum which closed on Saturday 15 January 2011. God answered our prayers abundantly. There was a large, enthusiastic turnout with in excess of 80 percent of the almost 4 million registered voters cast their ballots, surpassing the 60 percent required for a valid result.

Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, chairman of the commission that organised the referendum, told reporters in Juba, “I have watched a number of elections in this country and I think this has been the most peaceful, the most orderly and the quietest”.

The final vote count will be announced next month; independence,

if approved, will be declared in July.

The way ahead

It is vital that we continue to pray for Sudan in the months ahead.

This referendum is just the beginning.

A vote for independence will give the south control of almost 80 per cent of Sudan’s current oil production of 490,000 barrels a day, pumped mainly by China National Petroleum Corp., Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional and India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Sudan’s oil output is the third-biggest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Negotiations will need to be made on how to share oil revenue, set borders, apportion responsibility for Sudan’s $38 billion foreign debt and reach a settlement on Abyei, a disputed border region where two ethnic groups clashed this month, claiming as many as 76 lives.

This border area of Abyei has potential for more conflict. Pray that a peaceful solution can be found and that there will be no more bloodshed. The New York Times provided a graphic picture of the issues involved.

ABYEI, Sudan

There is a place in Sudan where Africa and the Arab world meet, where one thatched roof hut carries a roughly hewn cross at the top and next door an identical hut flaunts a crescent moon, where heavily armed nomads sweep in for raids and heavily armed villagers fight back. It is the most contested, the most emotionally charged and, recently, the most violent piece of land in this country of nearly one million square miles. With southern Sudan’s historic independence referendum coming to a close on Saturday, and this nation rapidly preparing to split in half, the focus is shifting here.

Abyei has oil. It has fertile land. It straddles the disputed border between north and south Sudan, and it is crawling with militias, which have clashed in recent days, killing dozens. Two rival ethnic groups claim the right to belong here — the Misseriya, who are Arab nomads, and the Ngok Dinka, sub-Saharan cattle herders — and the bitterness between them is long and deep. But the 1,250-mile border between the north and the south has yet to be demarcated, and the two sides have to decide how to share the oil; while most of it lies in the south, the south is landlocked and the north has the pipeline to the Red Sea. The two sides fought one of Africa’s longest civil wars, which killed more than two million people. Much of the violence was meted out by proxy forces and ethnic-based militias.

This is why Abyei is so worrisome, because so many of the ingredients of the wider north-south war: the oil, the proxy forces, the historic rivalries, are distilled here. “The coming conflict will be set off from Abyei,” predicted Mohammed Hamad, a political science professor in Khartoum.

It is not easy drawing a line through this country. Both north and south Sudan claim Abyei as their own. In Sudan, the extremes may be clear, with Arabs concentrated along the Nile around Khartoum, the capital, and Christian and animist people in the deep south, near the borders of Kenya and Uganda. But the middle, as Abyei shows, is a tapestry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/africa/16sudan.html

Situation in Doro, eastern Upper Nile State South Sudan

16 June 2011 Almost 100 killed in south Sudan clashes

24 May 2011 Abyei taken by North Sudan Forces

Following the referendum

The way ahead

Situation in Doro, eastern Upper Nile State
South Sudan

16 June 2011
Almost 100 killed in south Sudan clashes

24 May 2011
Abyei taken by North Sudan Forces