A Political Economy of Refugee Flows from South-West Sudan, 1986-1988

This study focuses on an area of south-west Sudan that was subject to severe and intensifying famine in the period 1985-1988 and that yielded a major flow of refugees to Ethiopia as well as very large numbers of “internal migrants” who moved to northern Sudan.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the root causes of refugee movements from this area, movements which originated primarily among the Dinka in northern Bahr el Ghazal and elements of the Nuer in western Upper Nile. The analysis will attempt to go beyond the common assertion that war creates famine and refugees, ad to throw light on the precise connections between “war” and these phenomena. It seeks to avoid the assumption that war, famine and refugee flows are simply dysfunctions and to explore the possibility that they may be functional for certain groups.