In July 2011
was born a new country – forthose people
of Juba and areas surrounding it, 9th
July 2011 was to be a historic date. For
the newly born Republic of South Sudan, Juba became the Capital. The birth of the newest of the Nations arose
out of a referendum heldthat year to determine if South Sudan should declare its
independence from Sudan. 98.83% of the population voted for independence. Those living in the north and expatriates living overseas also voted.
South Sudan became the 193rd country recognised by the UN and
the 54th UN member state in Africa.
Things are not good for
the infant Nation. Last month, the Govt declared
cholera outbreak in the capital city, where at least 18 people died and 171
cases were confirmed. The Govt, Ministry
of Health and the handful of Doctors are struggling to attend to the ailing but
there is more trouble. South Sudan is
engulfed in a conflict that seems to have defied all attempts to resolve it
peacefully. The conflict is now about 18 months old and despite every effort
made to try to end it, South Sudanese are still to enjoy peace and stability
after having shed millions of litres of their own precious blood to achieve
independence from vicious colonizers.The conflict is a concern of Africa in particular and the
international community at large. It is
evident that South Sudanese on their own have no power to end the conflict
because they find it easier to disagree than agree.
The city of Malakal
located on the banks of the White Nile, just north of its confluence with the
Sobat River is a warzone. The Battle of
Malakaloccurred at the end of Nov 2006 when clashes between Sudanese government
forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army were the most serious breach of a
2005 deal to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
The trouble appears far from over.
South Sudan’s army battled to regain control of the oil town of Malakal
a day after rebels launched an attack that forced some army units and hundreds
of people to flee the strategic crude hub.Gunfire and heavy explosions rang out
inside Malakal as troops clashed with fighters loyal to former Vice President
RiekMachar for the control of the town. The
clashes are the heaviest since the government launched a major offensive
against rebels three weeks ago, according to government and aid officials,
spotlighting the worsening violence. More than 50,000 people have died in the
conflict, and nearly two million others remain displaced.
The rebels attacked the
town from three different directions late Friday, forcing hundreds of residents
to flee, according to aid officials. Earlier, the United Nations and several
aid agencies evacuated staff from South Sudan’s Unity state following weeks of
intense fighting, leaving up to 300,000 without access to aid, including
food.Malakal has changed hands between government and rebel fighters several
times since the conflict erupted in December 2013, triggered by a dispute
between President SalvaKiir and his former deputy, Mr.Machar. The town has been
under government control since March 2014.
Oil regions have seen the
heaviest combat since the conflict started, as fighters battle for the control
of vital crude fields. Oil production has since slumped by a third to 160,000
barrels a day, leaving South Sudan’s capital of Juba struggling for revenue to
finance food and other vital imports.Failure of efforts to achieve a political
settlement has made it more likely that the two sides would each seek a
military conclusion to the war. According to NY Times, in places where the
fighting is fiercest, no one is even attempting to count the dead.
Nearly half the population
of the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, is in danger of going hungry. New
atrocities are reported almost every day. And more than 1.5 million people have
fled their homes, the vast majority to swampland villages where they hope
rising waters during the rainy season will keep them safe from marauding
soldiers. According to some of its
residents, there is no more country as despite repeated attempts at peace, some
of the deadliest fighting of the civil war has erupted in the last few
months.The warring leaders are unflinchingly entrenched in their positions, and
the kinds of abuses that shocked the world early in the conflict, including the
use of child soldiers and deliberate attacks on civilians, are reoccurring with
new ferocity.
Even the spokesman for the
military, the South Sudanese Liberation Army, acknowledged that the conflict
was pointless.“This is a senseless war,” said the spokesman. CholGarkouth, 15,
can barely remember how his family celebrated his country’s independence from
Sudan four years ago. He does not know about the support the United States gave
to South Sudan’s creation, the eight peace deals that have collapsed since his
fledgling nation quickly spiralled into civil war, or even much about the
politics fuelling the fire.But he knows why he picked up a gun.“All the other
boys my age were going to fight,” Chol, 15, said from his hospital bed,
bleary-eyed, a bullet wound in his leg. “I wanted to go fight with them.”
Many observers argue that
the humanitarian crisis seems to get worse by the day.The country’s economy is
in free fall, and the cost of food, gas and other essentials has skyrocketed.By
April, 3.8 million people did not have enough food. Within a month, that number
had grown by nearly a million.So many people are seeking refuge that in one
village north of the city of Malakal, WauShilluk, the population has exploded
to more than 39,000 from 3,000. For more than a month, no aid could get there
because of the fighting, and children described going as many as five days
without a meal.International aid groups had to cancel repeated trips last week
because of shelling and clashes. Finally, aid workers went despite the risks,
but on the way back gunmen shot at one of the boats — though it was clearly
marked with an aid group’s flag — forcing workers to dive for cover and speed
back to port.
United Nations officials
say they face an impossible choice: open their doors to the desperate, or let
people die.This is a far cry from what international officials envisioned when
the decades of war between northern and southern Sudan ended and a peace treaty
was reached in 2005, paving the way for independence from Sudan. In 2011, the Nation was born, the leaders of
the new nation’s two largest ethnic groups — the Dinka and the Nuer — joined in
forming a government. In Dec 2013, President
SalvaKiir, a Dinka, accused his former vice president, RiekMachar, a Nuer, of
plotting a coup. The two had a history of hostility dating back decades, and
their personal political struggle quickly swallowed the country, setting off a
new round of violence.The fighting spread from the capital and has been most
intense in two regions where there are oil fields.For Mr.Kiir and Mr.Machar, it
is not just territory that they are trying to control. They need alliances with
the nation’s many other ethnic groups.
War kills,
maims and tortures people. It is stated
there is no count, for one cannot count the numbers when the war is on. For more than 17 months, women, men and
children have been senselessly suffering through an entirely man-made
catastrophe with no immediate end in sight.
The parties know that they cannot conclude, but are trying to secure as
strong a position as possible before the rainy season comes and the fighting
stops.
Sad, people
do not know to co-exist and live peacefully.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
24th June 2015.
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