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Sudan vs. Chad

Transnational Issues

SudanChad
Disputes - international

the effects of Sudan's ethnic and rebel militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of the neighboring states; Chad wishes to be a helpful mediator in resolving the Darfur conflict, and in 2010 established a joint border monitoring force with Sudan, which has helped to reduce cross-border banditry and violence; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia; as of early 2019, more than 590,000 Sudanese refugees are being hosted in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan; Sudan, in turn, is hosting more than 975,000 refugees and asylum seekers, including more than 845,000 from South Sudan; Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; Sudan claims but Egypt de facto administers security and economic development of the Halaib region north of the 22nd parallel boundary; periodic violent skirmishes with Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic; South Sudan-Sudan boundary represents 1 January 1956 alignment, final alignment pending negotiations and demarcation; final sovereignty status of Abyei Area pending negotiations between South Sudan and Sudan

since 2003, ad hoc armed militia groups and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into Chad; Chad wishes to be a helpful mediator in resolving the Darfur conflict, and in 2010 established a joint border monitoring force with Sudan, which has helped to reduce cross-border banditry and violence; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Refugees and internally displaced personsrefugees (country of origin): 776,427 (South Sudan) (refugees and asylum seekers), 125,115 (Eritrea) (refugees and asylum seekers), 93,494 (Syria) (refugees and asylum seekers), 67,550 (Ethiopia) (refugees and asylum seekers), 27,350 (Central African Republic) (2021)

IDPs: 2,276,000 (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region; government and rebel fighting along South Sudan border; inter-tribal clashes) (2020)
refugees (country of origin): 372,722 (Sudan), 119,804 (Central African Republic), 16,634 (Nigeria) (2021)

IDPs: 401,511 (majority are in the east) (2021)
Trafficking in personscurrent situation: Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; traffickers exploit homeless children and unaccompanied migrant children from West and Central Africa in forced labor for begging, public transportation, large markets, and in sex trafficking; business owners, informal mining operators, community members, and farmers exploit children in brick-making factories, gold mining, collecting medical waste, street vending, and agriculture; children are exposed to threats, physical and sexual abuse, and hazardous working conditions; criminal groups exploit Sudanese women and girls from rural areas in domestic work and in sex trafficking; Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a semi-autonomous paramilitary branch of the government, recruited child soldiers; Eritrean, Ethiopian, and other Africans refugees at government encampments risk exploitation

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Sudan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; authorities prosecuted more suspected traffickers and launched an awareness campaign; the government streamlined its national anti-trafficking mechanism and focused resources on the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking; a national action plan was drafted, finalized, and approved; Sudanese Armed Forces officials launched a unit for child protection efforts in conflict areas and trained more than 5,000 members of its military on child protection issues; however, the Rapid Support Forces, a semi-autonomous paramilitary branch of the government, recruited child soldiers; the government has not developed a system to identify, demobilize, and rehabilitate victims; officials' denial of trafficking, smuggling, and kidnapping for ransom impeded anti-trafficking efforts; investigations and convictions of trafficking crimes decreased; Sudan was granted a waiver per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3; Sudan remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2020)
current situation: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Chad and Chadians abroad; most trafficking is internal; some children are sent by their parents to relatives or intermediaries to receive education, an apprenticeship, goods, or money and are then forced to work in domestic service or cattle herding; children are also forced to work in agriculture, gold mines, charcoal vending, and fishing, and those attending Koranic schools are forced into begging and street vending; girls from rural areas who search for work in larger towns are exploited in sex trafficking and domestic servitude; terrorist groups abduct children to serve as soldiers, suicide bombers, brides, and forced laborers

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Chad does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; one trafficker was convicted, the first under a 2018 law, but the government did not report investigating or prosecuting alleged traffickers, including complicit government officials; the government adopted a formal Road Map to implement its 2108 National Action Plan but did not report executing it; authorities did not identify any victims and have not drafted victim identification and referral procedures; the government continued to make no effort to raise awareness on trafficking (2020)

Source: CIA Factbook