Tensions between Sudan-Ethiopia continue to grow despite international mediation

Ethiopia is already standing against Sudan in the ongoing Nile river crisis and the latter fears that the construction of the renaissance dam will affect the water stream coming to Sudan, another issue seems to have emerged in recent times. 

Last week saw a volatile situation between the two countries when a decade-old border dispute once again emerged. The issue regarding fertile farmland between Sudan and Ethiopia is the reason behind the emerging border conflict. The concern from the Sudanese side is that Ethiopians are cultivating in their land. 

There is more than one issue that is disturbing things in the country. There is Tigray conflict in the regions which is concerning the humanitarian activists who think that the conflict has grown by three folds. The present dispute is over the Al Fashaqa region, which is an agricultural land halfway through two rivers. 

Both the countries claim different area coverage of the region but according to international standards, Al-Fashaqa covers nearly 12,000 square kilometers. The area is currently claimed by both countries but it is Ethiopians who have occupied the land, reveals several media reports. 

According to treaties dating back to 1902 to 1907, the land belongs to Sudan and a professor from Tufts University in the US, Alex de Waal, also confirms the same. The issue with that is the fact that thousands of Ethiopian farmers entered the region one day and since then have been cultivating there during the rainy season. 

A lot of times Sudanese forces try to send back the farmers but with the rainy season, the farmers from Ethiopia return. The tensions were bright to light last week but actually, the issue has been going on since 1995. Ethiopia had blamed Sudan for a failed assassination attempt against Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak when he was in Addis Ababa. 

Since then, Ethiopia sided against Sudan and pushed Ethiopian farmers to cultivate in the area without considering its impact on the safety of these farmers. A lot of times international bodies started meditating between them but there is no clear declaration between the two sides and no lines have been marked out. 

This area is close to the region where Tigray’s regional forces erupted in November last year which saw a lot of violence resulting in 60,000 Ethiopian refugees migrating to Sudan. One of the military experts from Sudan, Amin Ismail, said, “Authorities feared the situation in Tigray would slip out of control, and armed fighters infiltrate into the country.”