Inside the Ethiopia–Sudan Border Crisis: From Colonial Boundaries to Modern Conflict
Ethiopia-Sudan border tensions can be traced back to the 20th century, with the presence of a third party, England, which exercised colonial control over Sudan. In 1902, the British drew a border between Sudan and Ethiopia, as outlined in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902. Although Ethiopia’s name is included in the title, this agreement omitted Ethiopia’s consideration as to where the border should be drawn. The border was hastily drawn by an outside party that was barely cognizant of the sensitive cultural or ethnic relations. Groups with similar heritage were split apart without a second thought. The highly contested al-Fashaga region was claimed as part of Sudan by the British. This region is highly fertile and provides many coveted resources. Despite both Sudanese and Ethiopian farmers living in and cultivating this area, British Sudan claimed the entire region. This lack of an official and fair agreement allowed for more conflicts between the two nations, the impacts of which are still felt today.
For decades, Ethiopia and Sudan have practiced mutual destabilization campaigns in their competition for regional hegemony. According to a BBC article on the Al-Fashaga border dispute, “In the 1980s, Communist Ethiopia armed Sudanese rebels while Sudan aided ethno-nationalist armed groups in Ethiopia, including the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). In the 1990s, Sudan supported militant Islamist groups while Ethiopia backed the Sudanese opposition.” While these campaigns were not solely fueled by the al-Fashaga border dispute, they demonstrate the precarious relationship between Ethiopia and Sudan.
The late 2000s marked a relaxation of tensions between the countries concerning their shared border. In a monumental 2008 compromise, an agreement was reached between Ethiopia and Sudan. The al-Fashaga region would be officially Sudanese territory, but the Sudanese government would still allow Ethiopian farmers and villagers to live in the area. This sort of “soft border” would cause problems in the future, as there was still a degree of ambiguity that arose from who had rights to the land.
The Tigrayan Civil War in Ethiopia weakened the federal government and caused a refugee crisis due to human rights violations committed by both parties. This refugee crisis is heavily implicated in the border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan over the Al-Fashaga region. The Tigray War beginning in 2020 and ending in 2022, dealt with the persecution of those belonging to the Tigrayan ethnic group, an ethnic minority in Ethiopia. With the election of their new prime minister in 2018, Abiy Ahmed, people of the Tigrayan region were wary, despite the rest of the country and other world leaders believing that this was a promising step towards a new Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed’s 2018 win dethroned the TPLF, which had held power in Ethiopia since 1988. Many Tigrayans believed that Ahmed wrongfully scapegoated the Tigrayan people for many of Ethiopia’s past struggles, both internally and externally. When the next election came up, there was an overwhelming distrust of the Ethiopian Federal Government by the Tigrayan people, and these tensions exploded when the Tigrayan forces attacked federal military bases and the Federal Government retaliated. According to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, the Ethiopian Federal government was engaging in behavior that constituted crimes against humanity such as using starvation, rape, and extrajudicial killings as war tactics. According to the same report, Tigrayan forces violated the human rights of Amhara civilians by carrying out “large-scale killings of Amhara civilians, rape and sexual violence, and widespread looting and destruction of civilian property in Kobo and Chenna.”
The widespread violence of the Tigrayan Civil War greatly destabilized Ethiopia, causing a refugee crisis, especially in its northern regions, including Tigray and Amahara, which border Al-Fashaga. The mass displacement of Ethiopians from various ethnic groups seeking refuge in Sudan has put Ethiopians living in the al-Fashaga region at risk. Roughly 5.1 million Ethiopians were said to have been internally displaced in 2021, with millions more fleeing to Sudan to seek asylum. There were particularly large concerns for female asylum-seekers, as many experienced sexual and gender-based violence without the necessary psychological counsel to properly cope with this trauma. Reproductive health was also pushed to the back burner. UNFPA estimated that 700 of the new refugees in Sudan would be pregnant. By this point, Ethiopia was plunging into a full-blown civil war, creating the perfect opportunity for Sudan to make definite decisions in the al-Fashaga region. Abiy Ahmed, concerned about rebel supply lines operating through the al-Fashaga region, asked Sudan to seal off the border. Sudan did so, but then the country went as far as to lay full claim to the territory and push Ethiopian farmers out of the region.
By forcing Ethiopians out of the region, Sudan provoked Ethiopia. Sudan began by starting brush fires in the region in order to clear room for the troops. The sending of roughly 6,000 Sudanese troops into the al-Fashaga region provided enough cause to reignite the conflict, as people were uprooted from their homes. President Ahmed of Ethiopia, already in a vulnerable position from the Tigray War, took decisive action and claimed the al-Fashaga region as Ethiopian for the first time in over a decade. This act rendered the 2008 compromise obsolete and marked the formal reopening of the conflict with Sudan.
On the other side of this conflict, Sudan has also accused Ethiopia of committing atrocities against Sudanese citizens. Ethiopian farmers in the al-Fashaga region were protected by Ethiopian gunmen, also known as shifta. According to Sudanese reports, these gunmen are known for conducting cross-border raids to steal food, resources, and even kidnap civilians whom they hold for ransom. In one specific account, the body of 75-year-old Hasan Yaqoub, a Sudanese civilian, was found with a gunshot wound in his left eye and one hand having been completely severed. Reports such as this one have alarmed the international community, which has been on high alert since reports came out in 2020 of the aforementioned human rights abuses in the Tigray War.
There is a potential that the fighting within the Al-Fashaga region will spread and lead to a full-scale war between Ethiopia and Sudan, which would be catastrophic for civilians. According to the Ethiopian Peace Observatory, Sudan has taken most of the disputed territory, and Ethiopian soldiers in other border areas have reportedly attacked and killed Sudanese Armed Forces officers in response, according to Sudanese authorities.
While it is not clear how many have been killed in the conflict, it remains active and is therefore a concern for the international community and the UN. Both Ethiopia and Sudan have been known for violating human rights law in the past, especially the Ethiopian government in recent years. In light of this, aid should continue to help refugees in the Al-Fashaga region, and peace talks should be held between the two regions to ensure that this conflict does not escalate and lead to more bloodshed.
This article was initially written for publication in Fall 2023.
Edited by Jaaziel Olayinka