Closing the borders: Juba fears spread of fragments of war in Sudan

Ahmed Adel

The conflict in Sudan is causing great fears among neighboring countries as the fragments of war spread, which has caused the Republic of South Sudan to take measures to limit the transmission of the conflict into the country.

The government of South Sudan, following an emergency meeting of President Salva Kiir Mayardit with the army and security leaders, announced the closure of the border with Sudan for security considerations after violent confrontations between the Sudanese army forces and a rebel movement in the city of Kadugli in the southwest of the country, which caused thousands of residents to flee.

Salva Kiir discussed the situation in Khartoum with the army and security leadership, while the process of closing the borders excluded the movement of displaced persons.

Scale of the confrontations

The confrontations between the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, one of the armed rebel movements that control the southwestern regions of the country, warn of an expansion of the confrontations and an opening to a scenario that international bodies have always warned about.

Since mid-April, the war in Sudan has displaced more than 2.5 million people from their homes and threatened to destabilize neighboring countries suffering from a combination of conflict, poverty and economic stress.

The Sudanese army accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, of violating a long-standing ceasefire agreement and attacking an army unit in Kadugli, and the movement controls parts of South Kordofan State.

The main Sudanese oil fields are located in South Kordofan, which shares its borders with the states of West Darfur and South Sudan.

Since the outbreak of the bloody conflict between the army forces and the Rapid Support Forces in mid-April, citizens continue to flee from Khartoum and parts of the Darfur region towards safer internal areas, as well as to neighboring countries, especially South Sudan, Chad and Egypt. About 2.5 million people have been displaced, and more have sought refuge. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 528,000 of them have fled to neighboring countries. While the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, the actual numbers may be much higher, according to relief agencies and international organizations.

African mediation efforts, in which South Sudan plays an active role, did not succeed in converging points of view and a permanent ceasefire before going to direct negotiations between the two sides to reach a solution to the crisis.

Expected decision

Dr. Nourhan Sharara, a researcher of African affairs, said that the decision to close Juba’s borders with Sudan is an expected decision as a result of the bloody events that Sudan has been witnessing for three months, especially with the presence of gangs and rebels in South Sudan, as Sudan is now considered a safe haven for them to escape from the authorities in South Sudan.

In a special statement to the Reference, Sharara added that there are several reasons for the closure of Juba’s borders with Sudan, including the smuggling of weapons, as South Sudanese rebels use these weapons to launch attacks on the army and civilians.

Also, drug smuggling from Sudan to South Sudan is considered one of the most prominent problems affecting the security and stability of South Sudan. Finally, South Sudan suffers from continuous tribal conflicts that affect the stability of the region, and these conflicts prompted the Juba government to close the borders with Sudan to prevent the infiltration of rebels and weapons.

Sharara confirmed that in light of the events in Sudan, as well as the advance of terrorism to the region and the intensification of terrorist groups’ operations, terrorist threats pose a great threat to the security of South Sudan, as some extremists use this region as a safe haven to plan and carry out terrorist attacks in the countries of the region.