South Sudan parliament supports peace efforts in Sudan
September 12, 2023 (JUBA)- South Sudan’s parliament has backed efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement to the crisis in neighbouring Sudan.
The national assembly speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba specifically commended measures being undertaken by South Sudan President Salva Kiir to mediate the conflict, which has already uprooted more than 7 million people from their homes.
“We know there are challenges here and there but that the government and his excellency the President have not done much is being ungrateful and unacceptable”, she said on Monday.
The legislator commended the government for providing the financial assistance needed to transport returnees and refugees from Sudan, despite its challenges.
“I think to say that the government is not doing anything is wrong because something has been done. The government is putting efforts to support the displaced people who are coming back and those fleeing the conflict”, she said.
Parliament dispatched committees to areas in the northern part of the country as part of efforts to assess the situation, according to the national assembly speaker.
Stephen Lual Ngor, a lawmaker in the national assembly, had demanded that the Government of South Sudan liaises with officials in Sudan to find out how many South Sudanese citizens have been killed since the conflict erupted on April 15.
He claimed he had received reliable reports showing that several South Sudanese nationals had lost their lives since conflict broke out in the neighbouring country.
However, the circumstances under which such lives were lost remained unclear, causing the legislator to ask for an explanation from the government and to ensure those still strapped in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan are repatriated.
In response to the lawmaker’s concerns, Kumba directed parliamentary committees on humanitarian and foreign affairs to follow up on the issues raised by the legislator and provide elaborate findings to the assembly after the assignment.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 260,000 individuals have crossed into South Sudan since war erupted in Sudan.
(ST)