Chad-Sudan Relations Improving

Relations between the governments of Chad and Sudan seem to be improving, as the two states re-established diplomatic relations (BBC article here). During a visit by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir with Chadian president Idriss Deby, the two men embraced warmly, symbolizing a newly established bond between the two countries.

In 2005, the government of Chad declared a state of hostility with Sudan in response to the continued spill-over of the ongoing conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, and in response to allegations that the Sudanese government had backed rebels who had attacked the capital of Chad. The ongoing conflict in Darfur -- which has been characterized by many nations as a genocide -- has repeatedly led to confrontations between the Janjaweed militias, who are backed by the government of Sudan, and Chadian military forces on the border between the two states.

This reconciliation between the two neighboring countries could help to buttress ongoing attempts to stop the ethnic and religious violence that has plagued western Sudan for years, if the Chadian government decides to pressure Sudan into ceasing support of the Janjaweed militias who have been responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Darfur. The conflict, which has been widely characterized in the Western media as a conflict between Arab/Muslim Sudanese and Black Sudanese, is in fact much more complicated, drawing on centuries-old tensions between Sudan's farming and semi-nomadic herding classes. These tensions have been repeatedly exacerbated by droughts and starvation which have led to shortages and violence over claims to land. Long-standing grudges between ethnic, economic and religious groups related to inequalities in political power, economic development, and geopolitical resources have also served to reinforce attitudes of hostility and promote violence.

Although the UN has stopped short of labeling the violence in Darfur as a genocide, it is widely viewed throughout the international community as such. Millions of people have fled the country or been forcibly moved to refugee camps, hundreds of villages have been completely destroyed, and at least 400,000 people have been killed so far in the widespread ethnic violence.