Question

Explain the historical circumstances and events described in the film that led to the “lost boys” of Sudan being displaced/forced to leave Sudan and forced to live in UN refugee camps for the duration of their childhood years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3YdAcMENbk

Answer 1

• The 21-year civil war in Sudan, which ended in 2005, killed more than 2 million people and displaced at least 4 million. Among the displaced were over 20,000 unaccompanied children who were separated from their parents and forced to leave their villages for fear of being targeted and killed as part of the annihilation of the dominant patriarchal societies in South Sudan. The survivors of this group, who walked barefoot more than a thousand miles across international borders, became known as the “Lost Boys.”
• The Lost Boys were pushed by the civil war and a well-founded fear of persecution.Communists overthrew the government in 1991 and forced the young boys to leave at gunpoint. Chased by Ethiopian government tanks and armed militia, the boys frantically tried to cross the River Gilo, where thousands drowned, were eaten by crocodiles or shot.Those who survived the river crossing walked for more than a year back through Sudan to Kenya.
• Boys like Santino and Peter had no choice but to flee for their lives into the desert -- without knowing who among their families had died or survived. They formed small bands for mutual support and endured hunger, thirst, burning sands and continued military assaults. They also had to contend with the attacks of lions, which found the smallest boys the easier targets.
• The lucky ones made it to U.N. refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. Santino and Peter arrived in the Kakuma refugee camp, where food, shelter and relative safety could ease their physical suffering but would do little to heal their nightmarish memories or their fears over the fate of their families.