The Lost Boys of Sudan

Lost Boys of Sudan were over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005); about 2 million were killed and millions were displaced. The name "Lost Boys of Sudan" was colloquially used by aid workers in the refugee camps where the boys resided in Africa. The term was revived, as children fled the post-independence violence of South Sudan with Sudan during 2011–13.

The conflict in Sudan between the northern and southern regions had existed since Sudan’s independence from Britain in the year 1956. It was rooted in economic, cultural, and religious disparities between the north and south. The northern region of the country was primarily Muslim, which contrasted ideologically with the Christian and animist religions that were more prevalent in the south. Although the north had more of the urban centers of the nation, they depended heavily on the natural resources such as oil and minerals that were found in the southern region. The interests of northern business in extracting these resources contrasted the interests of southern farmers to protect and own their own land for agriculture

In 1983, the conflicting division of the population that had led to riots, massacres, protests, resulted in the formation of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Civil war began between the SPLA and the existent Sudanese government, which led to numerous attacks on civilians as well as military groups. In many southern rural villages, troops from both sides would wage massive raids, stealing food and killing as many inhabitants as they could. One of the worst instances of this was the Bor massacre, in which 2,000 people were killed.

Most of the boys were orphans separated from their familys as a result of the systematic attacks in the southern part of the country. Many avoided capture or death because they were away from their villages tending cattle at the cattle camps (grazing land located near bodies of water where cattle were taken and tended largely by the village children during the dry season) and were able to flee and hide in the dense African bush. Some of the unaccompanied male minors were conscripted by the Southern rebel forces and used as soldiers in the rebel army, while others were handed over to the government by their own families to ensure protection, for food, and under a false impression the child would be attending school.

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