“The focus in Sudan seems to be steadily shifting to the south [where we live]. Rebels in southern Sudan fought a separatist war for decades, and the region is scheduled to vote on its independence next year. But as the south edges toward nationhood, ethnic violence is building, with more than 2,000 people killed in 2009, many more than in Darfur, according to United Nations officials.
The root cause of both rebellions, in the south and in Darfur, is the same: marginalization. Sudan has a history of concentrating power and wealth in the center of the country, at the expense of the periphery. Until that is addressed, analysts say, Darfur will most likely remain tense, even if that tension is not expressed in mass killings or scorched villages.”