Refugee Policy in Sudan, 1967-1994

Based on the work of Ahmed Karadawi, Refugee Policy in Sudan discusses Sudanese government policy towards the refugee flows from Ethiopia into the Eastern Region of Sudan in theperiod 1967 to 1984, arguing that there were two underlying assumptions behind successive governments' policies: that refugees were considered a security threat and a socio-economic burden. In response,the policies incorporated the Organization of African Unity norms, which offered a platform to depoliticise the refugees, equally with the international conventions relating to refugees, which assured the externalization of responsibility and access to aid. This prescription, however, ignored the dynamism of the conflict that continued to generate refugees - and, as numbers accumulated in Sudan, the international aid regime did not act as a willing partner of the government. The consequences of a sizeable refugee population revealed a serious conflict of priorities, not only within the Sudanese government of the day, but also between the government and aid donors - thus, the objectives of the government policy were seriously undermined.

Karadawi worked in the government office of the Commissioner for Refugees in Khartoum for 16 years where he was involved in policy issues relating to refugees and had extensive contact with liberation fronts, other government departments, aid organizations, refugees, and Sudanese citizens. He describes the complex relations that often obscure what is conventionally recognized as humanitarian motives behind international programs for legal protection and material assistance. He wrote this account, which covers 1967 to 1984, in 1988 at Oxford. Having died in 1995 during a visit home from voluntary exile, he is considered a pioneer both in the practice and the academic study of refugee policy. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Peter Woodward received his Ph.D. on Condominium and Sudanese Nationalism from the University of Reading where he is currently Professor of Politics. He has written a number of books on Sudan and has worked in a Sudanese school as part of the Voluntary Service Overseas project.