itia
fighting since the mid-twentieth century have penetrated all of the
neighboring states; as of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central
African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which
includes 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by
Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces; Sudan, in
turn, hosted 20,000 Chadians, 122,000 Eritreans, 14,810 Ethiopians,
7,900 Ugandans and 5,000 Congolese as refugees; in February 2006,
Sudan and DROC signed an agreement to repatriate 13,300 Sudanese and
6,800 Congolese; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel
groups; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia
proceed slowly due to civil and ethnic fighting in eastern Sudan;
the boundary that separates Kenya and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear
in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial
times; while Sudan claims to administer the Hala'ib Triangle north
of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, both states
withdrew their military presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested
in and effectively administers the area; periodic violent skirmishes
with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among
related pastoral populations from the Central African Republic along
the border
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 116,746 (Eritrea), 20,000 (Chad),
14,633 (Ethiopia), 7,901 (Uganda)
IDPs: 5,300,000 - 6,200,000 (internal conflict since 1980s; ongoing
genocide in Darfur region, IDP registration for return to South
Sudan started in 2005) (2006)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Sudan is a source country for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation; Sudan may also be a transit and destination country
for Ethiopian women trafficked for domestic servitude; boys are
trafficked to the Middle East, particularly Qatar and the United
Arab Emirates, for use as camel jockeys; small numbers of girls are
reportedly trafficked within Sudan for domestic servitude, as well
as for commercial sexual exploitation in small brothels in
internally displaced persons (IDP) camps; the terrorist rebel
organization "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA) continues to abduct and
forcibly conscript small numbers of children in Southern Sud
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