At press time, in a referendum scheduled for Jan. 9 in Sudan, the mostly Christian and animist population of the south was to vote on whether or not to split from the primarily Muslim and Arab northern part of the country. The referendum is part of a 2005 peace accord which ended a civil war that left two million people dead.
In the north, political parties that oppose the northern government’s acceptance of possible secession have threatened to continue an armed struggle for resource-rich regions in the center of the country.
Many Sudanese have been selling their businesses and homes and moving north or south. The migrations, political upheaval and increased tensions have raised concerns about a new civil war erupting.