ABSTRACT
The presence of more than 1 million refugees in mainly three regions, Equatoria, Darfur and Eastern, creates a crisis situation. The problem now does not only relate to the plight of the refugees, but also to the capacity of the receiving environment and the local residents to cope with it. Unlike the trend in the 1960s, when the problem was seen as one of stabilising the relationship between receiving and sending countries, the refugee problem during and after Nimeiri has become a burning internal issue though one which carries over from the earlier period. In 1967 the Sudan government intervened to take over the decision-making from the local hosts in the regions. To do that it depended on the material support provided by the international aid organisations. However, another process of usurpation of power to implement refugee programmes by non-aid organisations began in the late 1970s leading to their successful dominance since 1982. The legacy after 1985 was complete dependence of the government on material provisions and dictates of the donors and the aid agencies.
