South Sudan minister decries Sudan war, urges unified support
September 25, 2023 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management minister, Albino Atak Akol on Tuesday warned of the destructive nature of the conflict in Sudan, saying its spill over could strain available resources.
Akol, in an interview with Sudan Tribune, commended efforts of President Salva Kiir and other regional leaders to advocate a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
He also called for a unified and coordinated support aimed at addressing the humanitarian crisis caused by the war that has displaced over 5 million people.
“When a neighbor’s house is burning, the neighbors do not just sit and watch,” Akol said, adding “They go uninvited and extinguish the fire first before they ask”.
According to the official, Kiir needed no invitation for a role in the peace process.
“He [Kiir] is already mediating for a peaceful settlement of the conflict because this conflict is destructive and expanding to the region,” stressed Akol.
The minister said that the Sudanese conflict needs a ceasefire to be secured, but it requires political will from the warring parties, amid warnings that the worsening violence in Sudan could foreshadow a civil war and a humanitarian crisis that would displace people across the border to South Sudan, Chad and Egypt.
“These are now the countries that have received the influx of refugees, and our case has been exacerbated by the return of our people who were in Sudan,” Akol said.
“We were part of Sudan before secession, and some of our people did not come back after secession in 2011. Some of our people also returned in 2013 and 2016 when we had our issues,” he added.
Meanwhile Akol said he was recently in Saudi Arabia to deliver a letter from the South Sudanese letter seeking assistance for the Sudanese refugees in his country.
He said Saudi authorities agreed to provide support, without giving further details.
At least 20.3 million people across Sudan are acutely food insecure and need food and livelihood assistance between July and September 2023, according to the latest integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on the war-torn country.
(ST)