The Nation Newspaper

Tag: South Sudan

  • South Sudan plane crash ‘kills 19’

    Nineteen people were killed when a small passenger plane crashed into a lake as it tried to land in thick fog in central South Sudan, reports say.

    Only four people, including two children, survived the crash, said government official Taban Abel Aguek.

    The victims include the pilot and co-pilot, a staff member of the Red Cross and an Anglican bishop, he told AFP.

    The aircraft was carrying 23 people from the capital, Juba, to the city of Yirol yesterday.

    “When it arrived the weather was so foggy and when it tried to land it crashed into Lake Yirol adjacent to Yirol town,” Mr Abel Aguek, the regional government minister, said.

    “The whole town is in shock, the shops are closed, some people have taken their relatives for burial. It is a commercial plane that crashed,” he added.

    Images posted on Twitter by Radio Miraya showed the twisted wreckage of the aircraft submerged in water as local fishermen used canoes to help with rescue and retrieval efforts.

  • Nine S/Sudan refugees arrested in Northwest Uganda

    “At least nine South Sudanese refugees have been arrested for leading riots and damaging humanitarian agencies equipment in the North-western district of Arua

    Police said in a statement on Friday. They led the riot over an alleged delay of food ration supply in the area. Josephine Angucia, West Nile Regional Police Spokesperson, said the suspects mobilized fellow refugees to riot, damage and steal humanitarian agencies data equipment at Omugo Refugee Settlement.

    “They alleged failure to provide relief food items for the last one month,’’ Angucia said. According to her, the refugees broke into the stores of United Nations World Food Programme stores, stealing food items, wheelbarrows, hoes, slashers, three computers, tarpaulin and spray cans. “When police swung into action, the riots were stopped.

    Read Also: Cross River donates to Cameroonian refugees

    “Nine suspects were arrested and detained at Yoro base camp police station pending transfer to Arua CPS ( Central Police Station ).” At Least 11 wheelbarrows, nine slashes, 11 hoes, some electric items, and computer accessories have been recovered, according to the Police.

    “Refugees are advised to use proper channels of sharing their grievances through their leaders to the concerned authorities instead of taking the law into their hands.

    “When someone continues to misbehave and not abide by our laws and procedures, they will be arrested and prosecuted according to Ugandan laws,’’ the police spokesman said.

    In October 2017, South Sudan refugees at Nyumanzi Refugee Settlement, in the neighbouring district of Adjumani which hosts over 20,000 people, protested over the delayed food supply.

    In 2017, WFP announced a food aid cut by 50 per cent to hundreds of thousands of refugees in the East African country due to financial constraints. 

    NAN

  • ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    Three UN agencies on Monday warned that seven million people in South Sudan, almost two-thirds of the population, could become severely food insecure in the coming months without sustained humanitarian assistance and access.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) in a statement said, if this happens, this will be the highest ever number of food insecure people in South Sudan.

    The period of greatest risk will be the lean season, between May and July.

    Particularly at risk are 155,000 people, including 29,000 children, who could suffer from the most extreme levels of hunger.

    In January, 5.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, were already struggling to find enough food each day and were in “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity (IPC Phases three and four), according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.

    This represents a 40 per cent increase in the number of severely food insecure people compared to January 2017.

    The report comes one year after famine was declared in parts of South Sudan in February 2017.

    Improved access and a massive humanitarian response succeeded in containing and averting famine later last year.

    In spite of this, the agencies said, the  food insecurity outlook has never been so dire as it is now.

    The FAO, UNICEF and WFP warned that progress made to prevent people from dying of hunger could be undone, and more people than ever could be pushed into severe hunger and famine-like conditions during May to July unless assistance and access are maintained.

    “The situation is extremely fragile, and we are close to seeing another famine. The projections are stark.

    “If we ignore them, we’ll be faced with a growing tragedy.

    “If farmers receive support to resume their livelihoods, we will see a rapid improvement in the country’s food security situation due to increased local production,” said Serge Tissot, FAO Representative in South Sudan.

    A growing tragedy that must not be ignored

    Overall hunger levels have risen due to protracted conflict that led to reduced food production and constantly disrupted livelihoods.

    This was further exacerbated by economic collapse, which impacted markets and trade, making them unable to compensate for the decrease in local food production.

    Prolonged dry spells, flooding and continued pest infestation, such as Fall Armyworm, have also had a damaging impact.

    “The situation is deteriorating with each year of conflict as more people lose the little they had.

    “We are alarmed as the lean season when the harvest runs out is expected to start this year much earlier than usual,” said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative and Country Director.

    “Unless we can pre-position assistance rather than mount a more costly response during the rains, more families will struggle to survive.”

    READ ALSO: Let’s focus on agriculture

    In areas like Unity, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Central Equatorial, riddled by reoccurring outbreaks of violent conflict and displacement, the proportion of people suffering from extreme food insecurity ranges from 52 to 62 percent – more than half the states’ combined population.

    The number is expected to keep increasing unless people find the means to receive, produce or buy their own food.

    Conflict and worsening hunger have led to already soaring rates of malnutrition.

    Without assistance, as of May, more than 1.3 million children under five will be at risk of acute malnutrition.

    Malnutrition rates are set to rise once the rainy season starts in April.

    Once this happens, many communities will become isolated and unable to reach medical services.

    The rains will make the country’s dirt roads unusable, and it will become more and more difficult to deliver supplies to medical centres.

    “We are preparing for rates of severe malnutrition among children never before seen in this country,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan.

    “Without an urgent response and access to those most in need, many children will die. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    Of particular concern are the areas around Leer, Mayendit, Longochuk and Renk where children under five face extremely critical levels of malnutrition

    In 2017, FAO, WFP, UNICEF and their partners rolled out their largest ever aid campaign, saving lives and containing famine. In 2017, agency partners conducted more than 135 rapid humanitarian missions to the most hard-to-reach areas, providing life-saving assistance to over 1.8 million people.

    FAO provided five million people, many in difficult-to-reach or conflict-affected areas, with seeds and tools for planting, and fishing kits in 2017.

    FAO has also vaccinated more than 6.1 million livestock to keep animals alive and healthy. This has been vital as most of the population rely on livestock for their survival.

    UNICEF and partners admitted some 208,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in 2017 and plan to reach 215,000 this year.

    Together with WFP, UNICEF took part in 51 rapid response missions in 2017 to reach communities cut off from regular aid assistance.

    The Rapid Response Mechanism will remain a key means of accessing conflict-affected communities in the coming months.

    At the peak of its response this year, WFP aims to reach 4.4 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance.

    WFP is pre-positioning food in areas likely to be cut off during the rainy season, so people will not go hungry.

    WFP plans to pre-position 140,000 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies – 20 percent more than in 2017 – in more than 50 locations across the country.

    NAN

  • South Sudan rebel group releases 15 prisoners to Red Cross

    South Sudan rebel group releases 15 prisoners to Red Cross

    A South Sudanese rebel group said on Monday it had released 15 soldiers it had been holding to The International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ), in line with a ceasefire agreed by the government and rebel groups.

    Reports say that on December 21, 2017, the government and rebel groups signed a ceasefire in the latest attempt to end a four-year civil war and allow humanitarian groups access to civilians caught in the fighting.

    The ceasefire aims to revive a 2015 peace deal that collapsed last year after heavy fighting broke out in South Sudan’s capital Juba.

    SPLA-IO spokesman Lam Gabriel said the rebel group had released the prisoners on Sunday and that it was collecting names of prisoners of war from battlefields across the Equatorial region, which borders Uganda.

    Read also: South Sudan: Crisis man-made, leaders responsible – UN chief

     He said more prisoners will be released in the coming days.

    International monitors have said the truce negotiated by the East African regional bloc IGAD in December, which included a commitment to release detainees, was violated within hours.

    The ICRC referred to a statement it released on Sunday saying it had “informed parties involved in the conflict in South Sudan that it can facilitate any potential release of persons detained in relation to the conflict.”

    South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013 after clashes between troops loyal to former vice president Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir.

    Tens of thousands of people have been killed and a third of the population have fled their homes.

    NAN

  • Pope decries murder of women, children at service for Africa

    Pope decries murder of women, children at service for Africa

    Pope Francis on Thursday denounced the murder of innocent women and children as the “horrid face” of war as he presided at a special prayer service for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Francis had planned to go later this year to South Sudan, which has been hit by civil war, famine and a refugee crisis, but had to scrap the project for security reasons.

    During the service, which was punctuated by African singing in English, French, Italian and Swahili, Francis asked God to “break down the walls of hostility that today divide brothers and sisters, especially in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

    “May he protect children, who suffer from conflicts in which they have no part, but which rob them of their childhood and at times of life itself,” he said in his brief homily.

    Read Also: The Mugabes in our midst

    “How hypocritical it is to deny the mass murder of women and children! Here war shows its most horrid face,” he said.

    St. Peter’s Basilica was decked out with photographs of African children.

    South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after protracted bloodshed, then fell into civil war in late 2013, with troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fighting those backing Riek Machar, a former vice president Kiir had sacked.

    Both sides have targeted civilians, human rights groups say.

    “Right now, we are moving into the lean season, and by July of 2018, many thousands of people across South Sudan – not just isolated pockets of the country – will be dying from hunger,” said Jerry Farrell, country representative in South Sudan for Catholic Relief Services.

    “What is most tragic is there absolutely shouldn’t be hunger in South Sudan,” he said in an email.

    He added that people of different tribes inter-marry and work together but that the conflict is instigated and fanned by politicians.

    In the Democratic Republic of Congo, dozens of people have died in protests against President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate in December 2016.

    Unrest sparked by the uncertainty surrounding the polls has raised fears Congo could witness a repeat of the kind of violence that killed millions around the turn of the last century, mostly from hunger and disease.

  • South Sudan: Crisis man-made, leaders responsible – UN chief

    South Sudan: Crisis man-made, leaders responsible – UN chief

    The Head of UN Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Tuesday, called the South Sudan’s crisis man-made, and alleged that the leaders of the country were responsible.

    Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council amid worsening security and the dire humanitarian and human rights situation in the country.

    He called on the international community to demand that the South Sudan’s leadership act in a manner that is expected of them.

    “I would like to reiterate that the conflict in South Sudan is a man-made conflict for which the leaders of South Sudan bear a direct responsibility.

    “The same leaders responsible for the conflict can also bring the country back from the impending abyss,” Lacroix added.

    He underscored the need for genuine political will to halt military operations, peacefully negotiate and make the compromises necessary to achieve sustainable peace in the country.

    During the past month, South Sudan has seen rising insecurity because of numerous clashes in many parts of the country, as well as presence of armed groups and soldiers that continues to drive tension.

    He said the insecurity has also led to shrinking space for humanitarian action – which used to be very effective, reaching millions with assistance as well as restrictions on the movement of relief actors and the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS).

    The human rights situation too remained issue of concern, with alarming reports of extrajudicial killings of civilians, arbitrary arrests and detentions, repression of free speech and harassment of political opponents, he warned.

    In his briefing, Lacroix, said that “while dialogue remained key, the unwillingness, so far, of significant opposition groups to join, notably because of the concurrent Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) military operations, the credibility of the National Dialogue process remains in question”.

    He recalled a meeting between Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD, an eight-country trade bloc in Africa) Foreign Ministers with President Salva Kiir and his cabinet, held on Oct. 13, during which the IGAD group reportedly committed to support the Revitalisation Forum.

    The UN peacekeeping chief called on the members of the Security Council to use their “leverage on all parties and encourage them to engage in this process meaningfully and without any preconditions.”

    “The conflict in South Sudan is a direct outcome of a prolonged disproportionate access to power and wealth in the country.

    “All future dispensations, therefore, must rest on the principle of inclusivity that leads to equitable power and wealth-sharing,” he said.

    Lacroix added that it was critical that all processes and international support must strive to build institutions so that politics shifts from ownership by individuals to those institutions that must be accountable to the people of South Sudan.

    Also in his briefing, Lacroix updated the Security Council on the deployment of the Regional Protection Force to the country.

  • Uganda reinforces border security with South Sudan after clashes

    Uganda reinforces border security with South Sudan after clashes

    The Ugandan military had reinforce the security on the border with South Sudan after the weekend clashes that left 19 people dead, Brig. Richard Karemire, the Ugandan military spokesperson said on Tuesday.

    Karemire said that security has been enhanced at Kaya border to ensure the South Sudan warring parties do not cross into Uganda without being detected.

    “We have intensified our security and intelligence at the border with South Sudan as we continue to follow and monitor the latest clashes in the country.

    “We shall continue to screen all the people fleeing from South Sudan into Uganda.

    “We are interested in knowing the government and oppositions fighters who might want to cross,” he said.

    According to the South Sudan government, the clashes on Saturday between government troops and the rebels left 19 people dead, including an American journalist.

    Thousands of South Sudan refugees continue to cross into Uganda after fighting erupted in December 2013.

    Karemire said the military will continue to allow in refugees.

    Over one million South Sudan refugees have crossed into Uganda, according to the new figures released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

  • UN pledges to avert worsening food crisis in North-East Nigeria

    UN pledges to avert worsening food crisis in North-East Nigeria

    The UN says it is doing everything possible to avert further deterioration of the food scarcity by victims of Boko Haram crisis in the North East.

    Mr Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, stated this at a press briefing on Monday in New York.

    According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the food crisis in the northeast is going to deteriorate between now and the end of August, if there is no any action to prevent that.

    The deputy spokesman said “we have raised attention, as you know, including at the level of the Secretary‑General, to the food crisis there.

    “We have been trying to get humanitarian contributions to Nigeria.

    “As you know there are four countries – Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia.

    “We have tried to get more assistance to areas in need so that there is no food crisis, and we will continue with that,” said.

    Haq said, however, that the UN had no specific deadline to get the funding for the food supplies in the northeast.

    “This is something that we and the various agencies of the UN system have been pursuing and will continue to pursue until the material conditions on the ground improve,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that U.S. President Donald Trump recently approved 121 million dollars in aid to feed people facing food crisis because of drought and conflict in Northeast.

    The fund was approved through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the project would be carried out by the World Food Programme.

  • Starvation: Nigeria, Somalia, two others get Trump’s $639m aid

    Starvation: Nigeria, Somalia, two others get Trump’s $639m aid

    U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday promised 639 million dollars in aid to feed people facing starvation because of drought and conflict in Northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

    Of the funding, 121 million dollars would go to Nigeria, according to Rob Jenkins, Acting Head, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

    Similarly, more than 191 million dollars would go to Yemen, 199 million dollars to South Sudan and nearly 126 million dollars for Somalia.

    “With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter and protection for those who have been affected by conflict,” USAID said in a statement

    Jenkins said conflicts in all the four countries had made it difficult to reach some communities in need of food.

    “We’re in a dire situation right now. The situation in southern Ethiopia fortunately does not rise to the dire situation of the other four, but the situation is deteriorating and might very well be catastrophic without additional interventions,” he said.

    Jenkins said that USAID was also concerned about the situation in southern Ethiopia, adding that Washington had already provided some 252 million dollars this year to Ethiopia, “but the needs continue to grow.”

    Trump’s pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Executive Director, David Beasley, said on the sidelines of the meeting, according to Reuters.

    “We’re facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two,” Beasley said, describing the pledge as providing a “godsend” to the suffering millions and the global food agency fighting hunger worldwide.

    The new funding brings to over 1.8 billion dollars aid promised by the U.S. for fiscal year 2017 for the crises in the four countries, where the UN had estimated more than 30 million people needed urgent food assistance.

    Beasley said the U.S. funding was about a third of what the WFP estimated was required this year to deal with urgent food needs in the four countries in crisis as well as in other areas.

    The WFP estimates that 109 million people around the world will need food assistance this year, up from 80 million last year, with 10 of the 13 worst-affected zones stemming from wars and “man-made” crises, Beasley said.

    ” We estimated that if we didn’t receive the funding we needed immediately that 400,000 to 600,000 children would be dying in the next four months,” he said.

    Trump’s announcement came after his administration proposed sharp cuts in funding for the U.S. State Department and other humanitarian missions as part of his “America First” policy.

    Beasley said the agency had worked hard with the White House and the U.S. government to secure the funding, but Trump would insist that other countries contributed more as well.

  • South Sudan: UN chief warns leaders to end civil war

    South Sudan: UN chief warns leaders to end civil war

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres says South Sudan’s leaders must end the civil war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

    Guterres, who made the remarks when he visited South Sudanese refugees in Uganda on the sidelines of the ‘Solidarity Summit’ to raise 2.2 billion dollars for the refugees emergency, urged the world to show solidarity.

    “It is time for the war to end. It is time for all the leaders of South Sudan to understand that they need to stop this war.

    “Peace in South Sudan is a must for these people to be able to have a future,” the Secretary-General said.

    The UN chief expressed gratitude for the efforts made by the Heads of State of the region, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and by the UN to help create the conditions for peace to be re-established.

    “At the same time, I cannot forget that twelve years ago I was here, in June, in this same place.

    “I was marking World Refugee Day with South Sudanese refugees that were singing with joy because they were going back home soon,” Guterres, who was then UN High Commissioner for Refugees, regretted.

    He said he had later accompanied many of the refugees across the border with the hope that the their new country would live in peace.

    “Unfortunately, that had not been the case. South Sudan’s leaders ‘do not deserve the people of their country,” Guterres said, stressing that the South Sudanese people have been suffering enormously “in an endless war”.

    He lauded Uganda’s hosting almost one million South Sudanese refugees “as sisters and brothers and sharing with them their land and everything they have.”

    He urged the international community to show solidarity with those that had fled their homes, as well as with the Ugandan Government and people.

    “In a world where so many people are selfishly closing their doors, closing their borders, not allowing refugees to come, this example deserves praise and admiration from the whole international community,” Guterres said.

    The UN chief visited the Imvepi Refugee Reception Centre in the Arua district of northern Uganda, the first stop for many South Sudanese refugees once they crossed the border into Uganda.

    The camp, which opened in February this year, is already filling up, hosting some 120,000 refugees, mostly women and children, fleeing violence and instability in the neighbouring country.

    In just the past year, the overall refugee population in Uganda has more than doubled from 500,000 to more than 1.25 million, making the East African country host to the world’s fastest growing refugee emergency.

    The UN chief pointed out that at the ‘Solidarity Summit’ on Friday, the international community would have the opportunity to express its solidarity, “responding to our appeal for massive financial support, both for humanitarian aid for the refugees”.

    “But also for the investments necessary for the education system, the health system, the infrastructure, the [local] environment, to be able to cope with this enormous challenge”.

    The ‘Solidarity Summit,’ which opened on Thursday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and is expected to wrap up on Friday.

    It was co-hosted by Uganda and the UN to rally international support for refugees and host communities in the form of donations, investments and innovative programmes.