It was a strange place to find one of Hollywood's biggest stars. George ClooneyThe actor first found fame in the TV series ER. His wife, Amal, is a British-Lebanese human rights lawyer. was visiting a village to which over 1,000 families had fled from Darfur. "There are no tents," he noted in a video diary. "Most just sleep under trees. No food, no water. These people had jobs and property before the Arab JanjaweedThe term means "devils on horseback". militia burned their villages, raped their women and killed their children."

That was in 2006. Clooney's intervention helped bring attention to one of the world's most horrific humanitarian crises. But 15 years later, Sudan and South Sudan are still racked by suffering - and news of a coup in KhartoumBuilt at the meeting point of two rivers, the Blue Nile and the White Nile, it has a population of five million. has done nothing to reassure their populations.

Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956. But even before that there was conflict between the north, which is largely Arab and Muslim, and the south, which is predominantly Christian. Two civil wars, from 1955 to 1972 and 1983 to 2005, left two million people dead.  

The crisis which moved George Clooney began in 2003 with attacks on the government in Khartoum by rebels from the south. In response the president, Omar al-Bashir, encouraged the Janjaweed militia to attack non-Arab villagers in the western province of Darfur and drive them from their homes.

It is estimated that 400,000 people were killed in this ethnic cleansing, and over three million displaced. The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged al-Bashir with crimes against humanity, though it was unable to arrest him.   

In 2011, South Sudan became independent. But two years later violence broke out between the tribes of its president and vice-president as they competed for farmland and the country's oil wealthWhen South Sudan broke away from the rest of the country, it was left in control of 70% of the oil wells.. Last year it was named the world's joint most corrupt nationAccording to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Somalia is the other country..

This conflict too has claimed 400,000 lives. According to the UN, two-thirds of the population8.3 million people. are currently in need of humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, in Sudan, Omar al-Bashir was overthrownAl-Bashir was sent to prison for corruption after 0m was found at his home, and is now supposed to be handed over to the ICC for trial. in a coup in 2019. A transitional government with military and civilian members were set up to prepare for democratic elections in 2022.

But that too was riven by disagreement, and tensions in the country were increased by growing unemployment and rising food and fuel prices. Yesterday, the news came that the army had arrested several leading civilian politicians, including the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok.

International leaders expressed deep concern. The US said that $377m in aid which it had promised Sudan was now in question.  

But George Clooney believes that outside forces have contributed to the suffering of the Sudanese people. In 2019 he criticised corrupt politicians in South Sudan, but noted:

"They received money, oil, transportation and weapons from a vast array of people and corporations all over the world who have profited from this crisis. These profiteers include Chinese and Malaysian oil giants, British tycoons and American businessmen - and without their support these atrocities could never have happened at this scale."

Some say, no: Sudan and South Sudan's problems are of their own making. The appalling suffering is down to conflicts between different ethnic groups, which are too complicated for outsiders to resolve, and the jaw-dropping corruption of their leaders. They have huge oil reserves, but have spent the proceeds on fighting each other instead of building institutions to ensure peace.  

Others, like George Clooney, argue that we should have intervened to stop the genocide in Darfur, and that foreigners greedy to share the countries' oil wealth have made things worse by financing and arming different factions. Others still blame Clooney and US politicians for encouraging South Sudan's independence without realising that it would pave the way for new tribal conflicts.