UN, US express concern as 26,000 displaced from Jonglei conflict

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.

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)