FORCED EMIGRATION FROM SUDAN Revolution, unrest and war have ravaged Sudan’s history since its independence from British and Egyptian rule in 1956. The new ruling parties have been predominately military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented policies. This is in sharp contrast to the beliefs and practices of the primarily Christian south where churches and schools were established by Italian Catholic missionaries and Anglicans during the colonial period. Religion has been a major cause for civil war. Fighting was intense between 1958 and 1972, when the south resisted erosion of its cultural and political rights by the north-backed ruling powers. Conflict ceased in 1972 under the Addis Ababa Agreement which gave southern Sudan considerable autonomy from the north. Civil war broke out again in 1983 when the Sudanese President, Gaafar Nimeiry, violated the Agreement by attempting to create a federated Sudan, including states in the south. Ongoing fighting and a military coup saw an increase of casualties in the south between 1989 and 1994. Political unrest continued into the 2000s. Two million southern Sudanese perished as a result of civil war and nearly four million were displaced. Towns and villages were destroyed, crops burned and livestock killed or stolen. Many people died of starvation and disease. Existing tribal disputes were exacerbated. Families were separated and thousands of children, fleeing without any adults to care for them, were recruited as soldiers. Southerners living in Khartoum were stranded there during the war. About a million people in southern Sudan were forced to flee the terror and violence in their homeland. Many became refugees who spent years living in camps in the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, where conditions simply added to the trauma they had already suffered before and during their flight. Refugee camps were located in inhospitable desert areas. With limited opportunity to provide for themselves, refugees relied on food aid. Despite the efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), malnutrition was widespread and the camps were often unsafe. Some refugees were repeatedly attacked by local rebel groups, at times backed by the Sudanese Government. The Australian Government has also been active in the resettlement of southern Sudanese people. In 2007, the Sudanese community was one of the fastest growing groups of settlers in Australia. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of newlyarrived immigrants born in Sudan increased by approximately 34% each year, primarily due to humanitarian programs from 2001. The vast majority described themselves as Christian. Between 2001 and 2006, Sudanese-born new immigrants settled mainly in Victoria (36%), New South Wales (24%) and to a lesser extent Queensland (14%), largely in the capital cities. Only 10 per cent reside in regional Australia and many are located in cities such as Toowomba, which already has an established Sudanese community.