Economic conditions have deteriorated due to the loss of oil revenue following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. Since then Khartoum has had to give up about 350,000 barrels of oil a day, three quarters of the old oil production concentrated mainly in the South. Recent uprisings started in the women’s dormitories at the capital’s university and from there spread to the streets in the centre of the city. In order to contain hundreds of protesters singing anti-regime slogans, security forces have used tear gas and batons, and, to complete the picture, imposed yet another clamp-down on journalists trying to report these events.

“I was waiting for the students to leave their classrooms to start their protests when the police stopped me. I was in a taxi with a colleague, doing nothing, waiting to see what would happen,” said Salma El-Wardany, an Egyptian journalist who, on June 21th was arrested outside Khartoum University. “I had been working in Sudan for a year and the local authorities questioned me for five hours, telling me I could remain in Sudan on condition I stopped reporting on the protests. They told me that for security reasons they had been ordered to prevent the press from covering the uprisings and that was why they had withdrawn my reporter’s pass. Obviously I did not accept their conditions and on June 26th the authorities deported me. Officially they had summoned me to clarify a number of issues concerning my press card, but a little later I heard I was under arrest. They took me home and made me quickly pack my belongings and then took me to the airport.”

What were the reasons that led to these uprisings?

There were many reasons. After the secession of the South, economic conditions in the North deteriorated as Khartoum lost many resources, while inflation and unemployment continue to rise. The regime cannot contain these events, and in order to resolve its financial problems it is raising prices. Furthermore, protesters are tired of this corrupt and authoritarian regime alienating all those who do not belong to the small managerial class. Discontent is high and the new government provisions have provided people with another reason for rebelling since no one will be able to survive these measures. The price of petrol doubled over night.

After experiencing the Egyptian revolution, do you think there will soon be a Sudanese Spring?

The numbers are very different, there are not as many people taking to the streets in the Sudan. In some ways, however, I think the winds of the Arab Spring are blowing in Sudan. Here too the leading role is played by the well-educated young, both men and women. Those I saw on the streets were young people, who, like the Egyptians, are determined to see things through to the bitter end until they obtain what they want, because this is the only thing they can do to guarantee themselves a future. Protests are organised by a student union formed before the 2010 presidential “elections” with the objective of spreading awareness among the Sudanese and discrediting Bashir. These students have been persecuted for years by the regime’s security apparatus. Then there is also Sharara, a youth movement for change. As happened in Egypt, these groups distance themselves from the historical opposition parties often accused of collaborating with the regime. Of course Sudan’s economic starting point conditions are very different and the country is far less developed than Egypt. There are so many reasons encouraging citizens to revolt that it is unlikely the uprising will end. The Sudanese regime is very weak, it does not have a doctrine like the Syrian one and I believe it could fall sooner than anyone imagines.

In addition to its internal problems, Khartoum still has to resolve issues linked to the South’s secession. What are the issues still to be addressed?

There are many. In drawing the line separating the two countries, a number of South Sudanese communities remained in the North and are doing everything they can to return to their homeland, but they face many problems. The first is the cost of the return journey and there are currently about 700,000 people waiting for a bus for the South and they have no idea who or what will be waiting for them. The United Nations can pay for plane tickets for refugees wishing to return home, but many prefer to travel by land taking with them everything they own, from household appliances to clothes. Then there are problems to be resolved with rebel groups that are still in the north and wish to disband. Finally there are territories with an unclear status, such as Abey, floating on the Muglad oil basin, which belongs to both the North and the South, or the district of southern Kordofan which is supposed to choose between the South and the North with a referendum, but nothing has been decided yet. The same problem affects the Blue Nile state, rich in hydroelectric energy. Referendums to determine the region’s constitutional future have been postponed sine die.

Translated by Francesca Simmons