Bifurcation in South Sudan
We share here a text from Br. Bill Firman FSC Executive Director,based in Juba ,of the Project Solidarity with South Sudan (Solidarity), a consortium of more than 200 religious congregations (www.solidarityssudan.org)
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For me it is okay. I am licensed to be safe and I have a choice to stay safely behind our big concrete walls. But there are hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese fled into the bush with little food, no clean water, no clothing. This is the dry season, the time to prepare to plant. This is not the time to be stuck at a bifurcation. When the wet season came last year, the UN reported that 65% of South Sudan roads became impassible. It is estimated that in the Bor massacre of 1991, 2000 people were killed and 25,000 people subsequently died of starvation and disease. The potential disaster looming now in parts of South Sudan is huge. I read in a recent UN report, getting relief to displaced people is 20% logistical cost in the dry season and 80% supplies cost. In the wet season, the ratio reverses.
For news to be news it has to be new? Is that a tautology or a valid perception? South Sudan seems to have slipped from the attention of the world media. Other new conflicts have pushed it aside but less publicity does not indicate progress in resolution of the conflict. In the attached commentary I have largely let the recent words of others tell the sad story of South Sudan. This senseless slaughter and stupidity could become far worse unless some realistic actions and decisions are taken urgently. ‘Two roads diverged in a wood….’ Surely the road to peace and reconciliation should not be too hard to choose.
129. Where to Now?
One friend in the UN remarked during the violence in Malakal that it was almost like being caught up in the scenes of an unreal war movie. It was an “Apocalypse Now’ with bullets flying, people running – and too many corpses left to be buried. Here are some extracts from some of the eye-witness descriptions of the events in South Sudan. These are the real experiences of some heroic people during this pointless conflict.
From a Missionary Priest in Leer:
‘We were welcomed in Beer chapel by local Christians and settled there thinking that we were safe. … What happened was that Darfurian rebels and SPLA soldiers attacked us just one hour after our arrival in Beer. They came from Mirmir through the bush and were divided into three groups. Those people do not knock on your door: they arrived shooting at us. When we heard the gunshots and the sound of bullets flying over our heads, we took what we could and ran into the bush. …The gunfire went on from 3.00 to 6.00 pm… .We miraculously escaped death. No doubt God protected us all along. Early in the morning we moved to a far off location in the swamps. There we would be safer.… There we set up home and would sleep on the ground for the next twenty days. ..Most of us remained with the clothes we were wearing. We shared our clothes and other items with those who had little… The new location was a real swampy area and very far. There are hippos and crocodiles. It was cold at night and very windy during the day. .. Food was getting scarce. Local Christians were collecting food to feed us. ..Hunt was also part of the menu (buffalo, hippo and crocodile). We drank from the same swampy water we bathed with, we just boiled it. I had some medicine which I was sharing with the sick. Most children were affected with cough and malnutrition. ..’
From a UNICEF Worker in Malakal:
I had arrived from the capital, Juba, on Friday, February 14, sharing the sense of optimism among UNICEF and other humanitarian workers about what we could achieve for the displaced children and families.. . We were also preparing to create child-friendly spaces for children to feel safe and play. We were feeling positive and we had a plan. That was Monday. By Tuesday, everything had changed. Shortly after I awoke in my tent, the morning quiet was shattered by gunfire. ..We ran to the bunker in search of safety from stray bullets, but it was quickly filling with families … So we huddled outside and hoped for the best. The tension in the camp was high and fighting soon broke out between some of the displaced men from different ethnic groups.. some using cement blocks and metal rods as weapons. It was horrific. By nightfall, there was still no safe place. Our tents would have afforded no protection against shells or bullets. By the end of the second day of the assault, there were 17 bodies, including two infants who had died of natural causes. We could not leave the bodies unburied and the next morning I volunteered to help UNMISS staff bury them outside… As we worked, we saw children carrying guns, some who looked as young as ten. These child soldiers had certainly witnessed brutal killing, or even killed themselves.
From a Missionary Sister in Malakal:
…’at night security personnel gave the warning that there was the possibility that the White Army would attack the UN compound, targeting the Dinka and Shilluk since the Nuer had almost completely left. The whole night the tanks of the Indian battalion kept on patrolling the camp. In the morning the tension was high but at midday people relaxed when nothing happened…a group of people from Christ the King Church rushed to the UNMISS. Even old women with the stick pushed themselves ahead on the long and dusty road. In the night the rebel soldiers had taken away 9 girls. A few had come back in the morning after having been raped. One of them was 12 years old. … Malakal had become virtually an empty town, void of civilians. Even domestic animals could no longer be seen. Vultures and dogs were feeding on the corpses. … The last images I had from Malakal while heading to the UNMISS aircraft bound to Juba were the corpse of a woman who appeared to have been gang raped and the smoke of the villages set on fire on the Western bank of the Nile.
We are left to wonder how can people do this? We pray for peace.
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– Br Bill