UN, US express concern as 26,000 displaced from Jonglei conflict
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August 24, 2011 (JUBA) - The UN’s humanitarian coordinator and the top
US official in South Sudan have expressed their concern over the
security situation in Jonglei state, where fighting is estimated to
have killed hundreds and displaced over 26,000 people.
Lise Grande, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan.
(Ngor Garang/ST)The clashes, which began on August 18, have left some
villages burnt to the ground, the UN’s Lisa Grande told journalists in
Juba on Wednesday following the return of a UN assessment team, which
was dispatched on August 22.
The UN’s investigation, found more than 330 graves in Jonglei’s Uror
County. However Grande acknowledges that the number could be much
higher, with local authorities reporting the over 600 have been killed
with more bodies possibly remaining unburied in the bush.
In Pieri and Motot villages 200 people were injured. “Over 250
unaccompanied minors were also identified" Grande said.
“During yesterday’s flyover, the assessment team saw two villages that
appeared to be torched to the ground.”
Of the estimated 26,800 individuals displaced, 15,000 are in the Pieri
area and 11,800 in Motot, Pulchuol and Karaam Payams [districts]. This
number is likely to increase once more areas are reached.
A group of officials from Jonglei told Sudan Tribune immediately after
the clashes in Uror county that the fighting had resulted in 640
deaths, 861 people sustaining injuries, the kidnap of 208 children,
the arson of 7,924 houses and the theft of 38,000 cows.
The latest clash was perpetrated by the Murle ethnic group against the
Luo Nuer apparently in response to a reciprocal attack in June. Tit
for tat cattle raids and revenge attacks between the neighbouring
tribes have resulted in the death of 1,000 people since January
according to the UN. In the same period the UN says tens of thousands
of people have been forced from their homes, and hundreds of women and
children have been abducted from both communities.
“Aid agencies are doing everything they can to assist people in need.
It’s unfortunate that the World Food Programme’s warehouse in Pieri,
which contained enough food to feed 2,000 people for one month, was
looted and that a Médecins Sans Frontières supported clinic was
semi-destroyed and a car torched,” said Grande.
Some of the injured are being treated at the scene while over 80 of
the most severe cases have been evacuated to Juba, the capital of
newly independent South Sudan.
Juba condemns Jonglei attacks
South Sudan’s government in Juba strongly condemned the attacks in
Jonglei state and set up a committee to investigate the incident, its
spokesman said on Wednesday.
“The Government of South Sudan condemns such mindless violence that
has left so many innocent men, women and children dead or injured,
their homes and livelihoods in ruin,” caretaker minister for
information and broadcasting Benjamin Barnaba Marial said.
He added, “There is no place for anything like this in South Sudan and
the Government and people of South Sudan will not tolerate it.”
Interior minister addresses parliament
During a heated parliamentary debate on Wednesday, lawmakers
questioned South Sudan’s interior minister, Gier Chuang Aluong, over
the Jonglei violence and what steps were being put in place by the
government to prevent similar future attacks.
A member of the parliament told Sudan Tribune that during Monday’s
deliberations members of the house recommended that a state of
emergency be declared in Jonglei state in order to effectively address
the ongoing killings in the area.
Marial, himself a member of the assembly, told journalists that the
parliament had passed a number of resolutions, ranging from requesting
the government to send troops to curb any revenge attacks by Luo Nuer
against the Murle and providing humanitarian assistance.
They also asked for a reconciliation process to be established to find
long term solutions. Marial said that additional focus will be placed
on infrastructural development in the area, including the provision of
new roads, improved water facilities such as damming and the dredging
of blocked streams.
Jonglei’s governor has said that poverty and competition over
resources are at the root of the conflict.
“The Minister of the Interior was instructed to take these resolutions
to a meeting of the National Security Committee which will be chaired
by the President this afternoon,” Marial said.
South Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly had also summoned the
country’s defense minister Nhial Deng Nhial but he is currently out of
the country.
On Tuesday, Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary-General called
on the government of South Sudan to restore security in Jonglei state.
Similar statements were also re-echoed by Hilde F. Johnson, the
special representative to the UN Secretary General and the Archbishop
of Sudan Daniel Deng Bol, who visited the area after the attack.
US - violence must be contained
The top US diplomat to South Sudan expressed his concerns over the
prevailing insecurity situation in nascent country on Wednesday.
Barrie Walkley, the American Ambassador to South Sudan, said the
recent incidents must be contained to avoid further escalations.
Walkley also expressed concern at recent violence in Warrap and Lakes
states when he met with the newly independent republic’s Vice
President Riek Machar to be briefed on the government’s ongoing
efforts to contain the situation. Machar said the government was
deploying forces to the affected areas to calm the situation.
Insecurity through cattle raiding and banditry is one of the major
challenges facing South Sudan, which separated from North Sudan in
July as part of a 2005 peace that ended decades of conflict. Numerous
rebel groups add to the insecurity making it difficult for Africa’s
54th country - one of the poorest in the world - to develop after
decades of crippling civil war.
(ST)
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