0:04
Khartoum, the capital of Africa’s largest country, awakens.
0:12
Islam is at home in northern Sudan. Here, the strict laws of the Shariah prevail. Weapons have fallen silent in the fighting between the Arabic North and the Christian South since a ceasefire was reached in January 2005. In 2011, the people of southern Sudan will have the chance to decide whether they want to stay with the Islamic North or gain their independence.
0:39
Most Christians agree. They do not want to stay with the North.
0:48
Interview
John Dingi Martino, priest
The North will do everything within its power to have us remain a second-class country and people. They have never done anything for the South, even not now that we have peace.
1:05
Two million deaths have been claimed by over two decades of civil war, which was driven by the supposed superiority of one faith over another. Millions of refugees live in the northern half of the country. There, the Christian Sudanese from the South have no rights. Now they are supposed to come to terms with their Islamic neighbors. But the anger over the forced arabization cannot simply be put aside.
1:32
Hanan Juan is a nun. She is visiting her sister in Khartoum. The 35-year-old has been living in the south for a few years.
1:47
Interview
Hanan Juan, nun
In the South, we are first-class citizens. That is where I am at home and feel free. You can be Christian and show it, even on the streets. Here in the North, we are not allowed to publicly display the crucifix. If we do, the Muslims curse and spit at us. They do not want to see the cross.
2:10
The Catholic Church runs schools in the refugee camps. Lessons are taught in Arabic, as dictated by the government. The tribal dialects from the South are banned.
2:24
For many of the children, the school lunch is the only meal of the day. Poverty is widespread. The work opportunities for Christians in the North are limited. Most parents do not want to send their children to the government-run schools, where only the Koran counts.
2:48
The conflict between the North and the South has existed for centuries. Arabic Muslims infiltrated the Christian Nubia in the middle of the 7th century, during their quest for converts. They were pushed back, but the arabicization could not be stopped.
3:14
In the end, the spread of Islam was not the only thing at stake. Oil revenues also counted, and more than half of the country’s oil can be found in the South. The Arabic government has controlled the oil fields since the 1990s, but the peace agreement dictates that it should share the revenues with the South. Nevertheless, the majority of southern Sudanese want to vote for independence in a referendum scheduled for 2011. They yearn to build up their own state with oil dollars.
3:44
Interview
Alfred Taban, newspaper publisher
The North will not accept the outcome of the referendum, because 75% of the oil fields are in the South. They would rather abandon us than the oil. They simply will not relinquish that and a very dangerous time will follow. A confrontation could be inevitable.
4:13
Alfred Taban is courageous. A Christian from the south, has created the country’s first independent newspaper. Because of his articles, he has been arrested and tortured.
4:27
Interview
Alfred Taban, newspaper publisher
It was so hot in the prison cell. To be able to breathe, I had to kneel near a crack in the door and pant like a dog. That is not a good way to be handled. I have suffered a lot. I thought: “This is my country” and I fought. That’s why I’m still here.
4:45
North and south have now split the seats in parliament. The peace agreement calls for a national government and promises autonomy and religious freedom.
4:56
Interview
Henry Dilah Odwar, parliamentarian
All the suffering, all the air strikes are finished. Now comes the time for development, so that our children in 100 years, in 50 years… (5:26) do not have to experience what we had to go through.
5:31
The parliamentarian and geophysicist has returned home from political exile in Canada. He is visiting his relatives in Khartoum. Since his return, he has accused the government of further destabilizing the South to continue wielding power there.
5:57
Interview
Henry Dilah Odwar, parliamentarian
The government supplies the militias with weapons and ammunition, gives them money. On the roads leading to the South of the country, after Juba, they systematically shoot at vehicles. You can see the results here. (Photos – leave free)
6:28
As always, it is the people who suffer most.
6:34
Those in the refugee camps are aware of the danger, but they still want to return home. In the North, many have electricity, running water, schools and hospitals. In the South, the civil war has completely destroyed the school and health care systems. But there, they are allowed to be Christian.
6:57
Interview
Rose Hakim Oma, refugee
In the referendum, I will vote for the separation from the North. The Arabs want to incite us one against the other. They make our lives difficult.
7:10
Many have dared to take a leap into the dark. The International Office of Migration, a United Nations agency, estimates that there are 6 million internally displaced people in Sudan. They left their villages to escape the war. Ten thousand of them have already returned.
7:33
The women are carrying all of their belongings – they don’t have anything else. They return to give their children a home where they can be equals.
7:49
They must cover 150 kilometers on the White Nile. The trip to their homeland will take 18 hours. For those affected by the civil war, their return not only symbolizes survival, but reconstruction. The peace agreement between the Islamic government and the southern Sudanese liberation army gives them hope for a new life, without misery and displacement.
8:17
The weapons are quiet after more than two decades. Slowly, people are again settling in the villages. The former rebels were incorporated into the national army. Tanks and army vehicles attest to the battles. Just three years ago, Sudan was designated a rogue nation by the Americans. With the signing of the peace agreement, the government has shown its wish for peace – at least in the southern half of the country. In the West, in Darfur, the fighting continues.
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8:51
Non-exploded ammunition and land mines are another terrible legacy of the civil war. They are one of the key obstacles to the return after the peace agreement of more than half a million refugees and the 6 million displaced internally within Sudan.
9:11
But despite this danger, hundreds of thousands have returned on their own, even though the infrastructure for a new life barely exists in the South. These people have nothing and must recover their belief in a future without terror and violence. They come because they long for justice and want to live as Christians.