Leading Scholars Advise Ethiopia, Sudan to Resolve Border Issue Peacefully

Addis Ababa January 29/2021 (ENA) Ethiopia and Sudan, the countries that have been bound by historic friendship and good neighborliness, should resolve their border dispute peacefully, leading scholars advised.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Professor Bahiru Zewde of Addis Ababa University said there has been a strong and long historical relationship that starts from the states of Axum between Ethiopia and Sudan.

The history professor explained that the countries share a long border with similar culture and color. In addition, the people-to-people relationship is strong and the people have been supporting one another during difficult times.  

In spite of  the historic relations, however, there were at times border conflicts between the people of the two countries, he pointed out.

According to the historian, boundary treaty in delimiting the Ethio-Sudan border was signed between the Government of Ethiopia and the British Colonial Administration of Sudan in 1902 and the representative of the British (Major Charles Gwynn) unilaterally carried out the demarcation without the presence of the representative of Ethiopia in 1903.

As a result, the Gwynn demarcation of the border, particularly in the area North of Mount Dagleish remained controversial and disputed, Professor Bahiru noted.

The two countries had agreed in 1972 to re-demarcate their border and resolve the dispute, he said, adding that the implementation agreement was however delayed due to various reasons, including government changes from both sides.

Commenting on the recent move of the Sudanese, the historian stated that “we can basically  say the current conflict is opportunistic. Sudan took advantage of the internal situation in Ethiopia. Previously, there was no such conflict like today.”

Professor Bahiru underlined that the two countries should resolve this dispute peacefully and through dialogue.

Gondar University Geography Professor, Mulatu Wubneh said on his part that Ethiopia and Sudan should resolve the border issue by prioritizing the issues that interconnect the two countries.

Recalling the adoption of the African Union Border Program in 2007 under the theme of preventing conflicts and prompting integration, he stressed that Ethiopia and Sudan should resolve the dispute though dialogue in line with the program.

Gondar University Associate Professor of Global Studies, Bitwoded Admassu said despite the long boundary the two countries share, suspicion and mutual mistrust characterize the relationship of the two countries in the north-western boundary region for long.

The lingering boundary problem between the countries relates to the question of demarcation, the associate professor said, adding that the root cause of the problem has been the demarcation of the boundary made unilaterally by Major Gwynn in 1903.

“Interestingly, no serious disagreement had ever been raised by any of the contracting parties on the validity of this treaty. But the question is why this time and now? However, by using the current Ethiopian political situation, they (both Sudan and Egypt) wanted to externalize their domestic political challenges and divert the attention of their people by declaring war on friendly Ethiopia,” he revealed.  

It seems that Sudanese politics is influenced by Egyptian politicians, Associate Professor Bitwoded said, adding that Egyptian politicians are now very busy to destabilize the politics of the Horn of Africa to control the waters of the Nile, and if possible to disrupt the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).  

“I think unconditional withdrawal of Sudanese from the occupied territories is the precondition to make peace between the two countries. War is of course a continuation of politics; however this could be closed in a roundtable negotiation.”

Furthermore, he stated that it is better for both Ethiopia and Sudan to focus on economic co-operation rather than destructive military conflict that may lead to mutual destruction.

It is to be recalled that Sudanese armed forces invaded the northern part of Dagleish Mountain by displacing Ethiopian farmers as of November 6, 2020.