Ilemi Triangle
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The Ilemi Triangle is an area of disputed land in East Africa. Ambiguously defined, it measures between 14,000 and 10,320 square kilometers. Named after Anuak chief Ilemi Akwon, the territory is claimed by Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya. Of these, Kenya now has de facto control of the area. The dispute arose from unclear wording of colonial-era treaties, which attempted to allow for the movements of the Turkana people--nomadic herders who were the region's inhabitants. The perceived economic marginality of the land, as well as constant instability of the region's governments has delayed the resolution of the dispute.
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[edit] Peoples
The nomadic Turkana move in the territory between Sudan and Kenya and have been vulnerable to attacks from surrounding peoples. The other peoples in this area are the Didinga and Topasa in Sudan, and the Nyangatom (Inyangatom) who move between Sudan and Ethiopia, and the Dassanech who live east of the triangle in Ethiopia. These pastoral people have historically engaged in razzia raids on livestock; while in the past they used traditional weapons, since the nineteenth century onwards the use of firearms is common.
[edit] History
The exact boundary has changed over the years. Ethiopian emperor Menelik claimed Lake Turkana and proposed a boundary with the British to run from the southern end of the lake eastward to the Indian Ocean. The British did not agree with this and made agreements with other European powers about the borders in the area without involving Ethiopia. The line surveyed by Captain Philip Maud of the Royal Engineers in 1902-3, known as the "Maud Line", put the triangle in Sudan's control. The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement treaty of December 6, 1907 between Ethiopia and British East Africa was vague on the details of where the border was located. The de-facto border between Kenya and Ethiopia was then set at the Maud line, which ran east-west from the north end of Lake Turkana. Later in 1914 the Uganda-Sudan Boundary Commission wanted to give Sudan access to Lake Turkana, resulting in the triangular shaped piece of land given to Sudan. After the First World War the Ethiopians armed the Nyangatom and Dassanech peoples, whereby the traditional raids turned into battles where hundreds died.
Representatives of Sudan, Uganda and Kenya in April 1924 in Kitgum agreed that Sudan should hand over territory north of the 1914 line to either Kenya or Uganda, who could give protection to the Turkana people. However, Britain was jointly administering Sudan with Egypt, and did not want to pressure Egypt to concede Sudanese territory since relations were poor after Sir Lee Stack, the British Governor-General of Sudan, was assassinated in Cairo in November 1924. Sudan in 1928 agreed to allow Kenyan military units across the 1914 line to protect the Turkana against the Dassanech and Nyangatom, although it cost £30,000 per year. In 1929 Kenya began subsidising Sudan to occupy the territory, which it did not wish to continue because of the perceived useless nature of it. In 1931 it was Sudan which agreed to subsidise Kenya to occupy the territory.
In 1931 a red line (the Glenday Line) was drawn to represent the northern boundary of Turkana grazing, however the Governor of Kenya did not wish to extend Kenya's control to the north. In 1932 a 'green line' was drawn further north, however neither of these lines were official boundaries, merely being drawn to show the limits of Kenya's administration.
After Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1936, Italy claimed the area of the Ilemi triangle. A joint Kenya-Sudan survey team in 1938 established a second "red line" or "wakefield line" marking the northern limit of grazing of Turkana as a temporary measure. While Egypt and Britain agreed on this, Italy did not. The Dessanetch and Inyangatom had suffered because of the Italian occupation, and wished to recoup their losses by making a raid against the Turkana. Several hundred Turkana people were killed in a raid in July 1939 by the Inyangatom and Dassanech peoples. Italy gave up their claim on the Ilemi subsequently, and allowed the British to respond with an a raid on the Inyangatom and Dassanech supported by the Royal Air Force.
British troops of the King's African Rifles occupied Ilemi in 1941 after the British invasion of Ethiopia during World War II. The KAR passed through Ilemi on their way to southwestern Ethiopia. In 1944 Britain's foreign office surveyed a "blue line" which was further west than the 'red line'. Sudan, in 1950, established their own patrol line where they prohibited Kenyan and Ethiopian pastoralists from moving west of it, giving up policing and developing that area. However, they did not give up their claim to the land to the east. There was fighting between 1949 and 1953 as Sudan attempted to keep the Nyangatom behind this line. After Sudanese independence in 1956 Sudan has not administered Ilemi or much of the southern part of the country due to the Civil war there.
It is often alleged that the Kenyan government entered into an agreement with SPLA/M to administer the contested triangle in return for sanctuary and military/logistical support to its' leaders and cause[citation needed].
In 1964 Kenya and Ethiopia agreed to exchange territory, where Kenya received Namuruputh, which is near the eastern point of the triangle. In 1972 a Sudan-Ethiopia boundary alteration did not solve the issue because it did not involve Kenya. In the 1990s Ethiopia armed the Dassanech with Kalashnikov automatic rifles, while since 1978 the Kenyan government of President Moi have been arming the Turkana. Since 1978 Kenyan maps have also marked the Red Line as the official boundary of Kenya, rather than a dotted boundary which it had been previously. There is a question as to whether there has been a secret agreement between Kenya and Sudan to allow Kenya to administer this territory, in return for support in the Sudanese Civil War. During the later twentieth century the countries involved have had other priorities delaying a resolution to the issue.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Map of the Triangle
- Scholarly Article about the Triangle
- Article in the Sudan Tribune suggesting that Kenya's claim is weak
- Ilemi Triangle, Robert O. Collins, Uni of California
