Sudan, South Sudan Borders Fueling Refugee Crisis

Sudan lost a large portion of its geographic country when South Sudan gained independence in July. Ideally, letting the newly independent nation go should have seen a cessation of tensions between the deeply divided regions. But continuing tensions over unresolved borders are fueling war and uncertainty in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states according to an AFP report, and that spiraling violence is sending hundreds of thousands of Sudanese into neighboring countries as refugees.

Here's are a few of the more recent events and headlines related to the civil strife between Sudan and South Sudan.

* The U.N. Refugee Agency said it would need $145 million to aid 185,000 Sudanese refugees. Thus far they've registered 30,000 refugees in Ethiopia and South Sudan, and moved 20,000 from unsafe border locations to four new locations since January.

* On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin released questions and answers on a government website from a news conference Wednesday. One of the questions included the request for a briefing on the Tuesday release of 29 Chinese nationals. Weimin noted employees of China International Water & Electric's road project were brought to Nairobi, Kenya, and were in good health. China thanked Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. for their help in securing the kidnapping victims.

* Amnesty International issued a report Thursday, linking the continued conflict in Darfur, located to the west and northwest of Southern Kordofan, with arms sales from Belarus, Russia and China. It noted the conflict has shifted away from the border with Chad and moved more towards eastern Darfur.

* On Friday, a United Kingdom's Foreign Office spokesperson issued a statement on their website calling for an end to attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces against civilians and deploring the recent kidnappings by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North of Chinese workers. They pointed to the bombing of a school on Feb. 1 in the Nuba Mountains, Southern Kordofan as an example of "indiscriminate bombing" and called the SPLM-North's kidnapping tactics "unacceptable".

* Australia's government also issued a news release on Thursday noting it would provide another $9 million in aid to the U.N. Common Humanitarian Fund, the Red Cross and other agencies to help combat water, shelter, and medical shortages in Sudan and South Sudan.

* Furthering regional tensions, a Reuters report indicates South Sudan's shutdown of oil production due to a transport dispute with Sudan is likely to lose 98 percent of their revenues and is likely to experience inflation.

Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.