State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2013 - Case study: Conflict in the Nuba mountains drives famine and disease

In 2012, one of the world's most devastating humanitarian crises was unfolding along the border between Sudan and South Sudan in the Nuba mountains. The people of Nuba include a number of different ethno-linguistic communities, as well as different religious groups, living side by side. They have been marginalized for decades by the Sudanese government in Khartoum, and the region has now become a conflict hotspot. As a result of marginalization and large-scale government land acquisitions in the region, Nuba leaders supported the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) in its war against the government in Khartoum. When negotiations led to South Sudan's secession, the fate of the Nuba region was left unresolved.

In 2011, conflict erupted between militia factions in the region and the Khartoum government. By 2012, thousands from Nuba communities, as well as other communities perceived to be anti-government, were under attack via an intensive government bombing campaign.

The conflict has created a health and humanitarian crisis. Fear of bombings has displaced thousands into mountain caves and prevented the planting of food crops. Bomb-related injuries have intensified the strain on an already limited health care system. Delivering humanitarian aid to the region has become extremely challenging – because of the active conflict as well as the refusal of the government to allow much assistance – leading to terrible conditions for those living in Nuba. Because it has not been possible to move vaccination to the region, outbreaks of measles and other preventable childhood diseases are a serious concern.

Thousands of refugees have fled to South Sudan, but conditions in the camps there were also described as desperate in 2012, with rampant disease and malnutrition. Some have likened the tactics of the Khartoum government to those used in the Darfur region, with indiscriminate attacks on civilians and use of food as a weapon of war.